Main Building at Vaca Dixon Substation

[Christopher Low 5,341]

Does anyone know where I can find photographs of the main building at Vaca Dixon Substation in California ?Chris Low.

[Guest Seadog]

Hi Chris - Here's the only one I could find. Hope it helps.http://63.192.157.117/specials/Century/1920/essay08.html-Seadog

[Christopher Low 5,341]

Seadog,Yeah, that's the only one that Google can locate. It seems that we need a local boy to get on out there and take a few pictures :-)Chris Low.

[Guest Seadog]

Chris -Absent Local Boy's availability, I took another, exhaustive, look around the internet with a couple of search engines, even tried going in the back door through the substation's owner, Pacific Gas & Electric, and the owner of the new turbine generator alongside the substation, CalPeak LLC. Then I searched the archives of the Vacaville newspaper, The Record.Absolutely no luck whatsoever. :-grr Sorry. The one Google finds appears to be the only anyone can find.-Seadog

[Guest fu3]

Seadog/Chris,Darn elusive, this thing - although why anybody would feel the need to post photos of a substation building on the web is anyone's guess!I used a few search engines too and, whilst getting lots of hits, I got no (more) pix :-( As it turns out, this sub actually DOES have a bit of history. But alas, no photos...D'n't matter though (it's OK, we Australians can leave out as many letters as we like - it's a sport here...), I have measured her up and, with the lonely photo we have (and a years of looking at power and sub stations), I'll have a go.Speaking about which, I'm just off shortly to go and look at a very large suburban sub. Unfortunately, the photos won't be of any use - unless you're actually interested in electrical distribution...:-wave

[Guest Seadog]

Hi JonThe local newspaper has a circulation of all of 17,000. You would think that if the substation got a fresh coat of paint, they would run a photo.But, nooooooo. :-roll -Seadog

[Guest fu3]

Yeah, but I found more about crop circles, the Nut Tree and surrounding objects. One wonders if they're just happy keeping it to themselves ;) Dunno if I'd detour a trip to see the place, so to speak!:-wave

[Christopher Low 5,341]

If I ever get back to the San Francisco Bay area, I would love to take a tour of the entire region covered by the FU2 scenery....and I would consider it my duty to make a special trip to Vaca Dixon Substation ;-)Chris Low.

[Guest fu3]

Well, if I was in the area :-rollTo be honest, the sub I visited this afternoon was HUGE. The site is 4ha, which is roughly 10 acres :-eekI'll try and post a preview of the Vaca Dixon model in a couple of hours. Just got to get through the evening 'domestics' and by 21:30 I'll be clear ;):-wave

[Guest fu3]

Chris/Seadog,No info? Well, with a floor plan derived from a GE shot, an old B&W photo (and a bizarre imagination :-roll ), VOILA!One substation building...I'm not sure it's accurate - I'm not sure about very much these days but it's done.Out front. Majestic huh?http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/127650.jpgSame at night. Those floodlights must cost a b... er, I guess it IS a power company...http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/127651.jpgOut back.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/127652.jpgAnd again at night.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/127653.jpgChris, it should be in your inbox by now ;):-wave

[Guest Seadog]

Very nice work, indeed, Jon. :-yellow1 How in the world did you find a floor plan? :-sun1 -Seadog

[Guest fu3]

Seadog,2 words, Google Earth. The distance measuring tool is great :-hahhttp://earth.google.com/Wonderful piece of kit, really ;) :-wave

[Guest Seadog]

Just installed it two days ago, but had no idea it could be that useful as I hadn't yet begun using it. Thanks for the heads up.Cheers, Seadog