IRT Substation 28
IRT Substation 28 sits in a parking lot just to the southwest of the Willets Point subway stop. These substations once contained large rotary converters that transformed high-voltage alternating current from the subway power distribution lines to the lower-voltage direct current power sent via the third rail to power the trains. Rotary convertors have now been replaced by more efficient and reliable semiconductor devices, although the substations are still necessary.
This substation was presumably built when the IRT Flushing Line (jointly operated with the BMT) was built here in the late 1920s. The substation was presumably decomissioned in the 1970s or 1980s when a larger substation was a few hundred feet to the east and closer to the station.
View from the northeast under the IRT Flushing Line elevated tracks
East side of the substation
View from the southwest
New substation further east