R36 World's Fair (New York City Subway car)

Early history

In 1962, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) ordered 430 cars for the 7 train. This route would run to the World's Fair grounds in Flushing Meadows in Queens. The first 40 cars were singles (R33 World's Fair), with the rest R36 cars. (Single cars were needed since the 7 service runs 11-car trains, and R36's were only pairs.) The cars were painted in a light blue turquoise "Bluebird" scheme (see "Paint Schemes" below) and with large picture windows unlike other IRT cars. Thirty-four R36s were built at the same time for the IRT Main Line, had small drop sash windows and were painted bright red. The first R36 cars (#9558–9561) arrived in fall 1963, shortly after the R33 WFs began arriving in September. The first train of R36 Worlds Fair's was placed in service on the 7 route on October 24, 1963. With the fair opening approaching on April 12, 1964, R36 cars were built and delivered in larger quantities that Fall. More cars arrived throughout 1964, enough to displace the R12s, R14s and R15s from the 7 train by the close of 1964.

Through the 1970s, the R36s were the mainstay of the 7 service. The cars kept their original paint until 1977, when some were repainted in the new "Silver & Blue" scheme. Around 1975–8, the entire subway system was being covered in graffiti. Most cars had their original paint covered up by then or were given a new white "anti-graffiti" covering by 1982. By 1982, all cars had received air conditioning as part of a retrofitting program replacing the original Axiflow ceiling fans.

Rebuilding

The R36s were the first cars to be rebuilt in the NYCTA's General Overhaul Program (GOH) in the 1980s. This program improved car life by rebuilding older cars and keeping other cars in a state of good repair. A trial rebuild program was done on selected Westinghouse R36 cars in 1981-83. Beginning in late 1984, the other R36 cars were rebuilt at rate of 200 cars per year, with the majority of them done in-house at the Coney Island Shop. Others were rebuilt by General Electric in Buffalo, New York and by Amtrak at its Beech Grove, Indiana and Wilmington, Delaware shops. The last remaining cars were sent out for rebuild in late 1985, and by 1986, all cars were back in service.

After rebuilding, the 7 service's R36 WF cars were repainted in a red scheme prior to returning to service. At first, the scheme was known as "Silver Fox" or "Gunn Red" or "Broad Street Red" after NYCT chief David L. Gunn and was a graffiti-resistant red. By 1989, the Gunn Red would evolve into the Redbird scheme best known to many New Yorkers, with beige interiors, red exterior paint and interior doors and black and silver exterior trim along the car windows, roof, and undersides. In 1999, the R36 cars were the most reliable in the NYCT fleet, with a Mean Distance Between Failure (MDBF) rate of 194,150 miles, despite being 35 years old at the time. While in decent shape mechanically, rust holes and carbody corrosion were beginning to form in the sides of most of the cars.

From the 1990s until mid-2001, cars #9478–9523 usually ran on the 6 train based at Westchester Yard in the Bronx. Previously, some Westinghouse R36 WFs had been assigned to the 1 and 3 trains in the 1970s.

Retirement

In 1998, New York City Transit announced that it would phase out its Redbird cars - R26, R28, R29, R33 and R36 - with modern R142 and R142A cars. While the Redbirds on the IRT Main Line were beginning to be retired starting in early 2001, the 7 service was provided by R33WFs and R36WFs. In January 2002, a set of R62As arrived from the IRT mainline. As more R142s and R142As were delivered, R62As were gradually transferred from the 3 and 6 to the 7, in turn replacing the R36WFs. There were still many R36WFs on the 7 in 2002, since delivery of the R142s and R142As was slow that year. However, by mid-2003 R33WF/R36WF trains were dwindling on the 7 service. Only a few sets were running by fall, until the last train of R36WFs finally ran along the 7 on November 3, 2003 with R33WF car 9309, marking the retirement of not only the R33WFs and R36WFs, but also the Redbird cars and the end of non stainless steel cars in the subway.

Most of the Redbirds (1,294) were submerged off the coast of Delaware, New Jersey, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia as artificial barrier and diving reefs, by Weeks Marine. However, pair 9400-9401 and the five pairs that formed the last R36WF train in service were held for many years.

Pair 9400-9401 was stored out of service in the Corona Yard for preservation. However, the cars were never used and were scrapped on October 7, 2013. Instead, cars 9586-9587 were used for preservation.

Pair 9564–9565 was set aside and transferred to Coney Island Yard in December 2004 for conversion of 9564 into a visitor center at Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens, Queens, and 9565 into a museum in West Babylon, New York. However, R33 ML 9075 was used at Queens Borough hall instead of 9564, and 9565 never made it to the proposed museum; the cars were subsequently reefed in 2008. Pair 9588–9589 was stored at the Concourse Yard until 2008, when this pair was reefed.

Pairs 9582–9583, 9584–9585, and 9586–9587 were transferred to the Unionport Yard and used to provide traction power for the rail adhesion train. During a system-wide equipment cleanup in 2013 (which caused the demise of pair 9400-9401), R33WF cars replaced two of the pairs, and the three pairs saw different fates:

In culture

Eight WH cars (#9356–57, 9360–61, 9394–95, 9412–13) and two GE cars (#9712–13) in addition to one R33 WF (#9327) were wrapped and painted in New York Mets colors on October 24, 2000 prior to Game 3 of the 2000 World Series between the Yankees and Mets.

In addition, the R36 cars have made cameo roles in various TV shows and movies. Nicolas Cage rides a 7 train of R36s in It Could Happen to You (1994). In the 1988 movie Cocktail, Tom Cruise gets off R36WF #9700 at Vernon-Jackson station.

Paint schemes

The R36 cars have worn many paint schemes since 1964.