Power Supply Facilities for Reading Suburban Electrification

The Reading Company is now electrifying its Philadelphia suburban railroad service and facilities are planned so that the electrification may readily be extended to include through passenger and freight service between Philadelphia and New York City, Bethlehem, and Reading, Pennsylvania. Contract has been made with Philadelphia Electric Company for initial power requirements, and provisions are made for enlarging such supply to serve all of the above territory. The Railroad Company is constructing substation and transmission facilities to serve the suburban territory by a 12/24/36-kv., three-wire, single-phase, 25-cycle distribution system, with the view to serving the more remote area by superimposing 66-kv. transmission lines upon the initial system, at the time of future extension. The present and proposed system layout is described, together with the estimated power requirements and the manner in which the railroad system is to be served from the system of the power company.