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Redbird is the name given to 1,410 New York City Subway cars of the following types: R26, R28, R29, R33 Main Line (ML), R33 World's Fair (WF), R36 ML, and R36 WF. These cars were painted a deep red to combat graffiti, which had become a major problem in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The deep red color was referred to as Gunn Red or "Broad Street Red" in honor of its originator David L. Gunn, the former SEPTA General Manager who became President of the New York City Transit Authority during this period. Initially entering service in various colors, these cars received the new paint scheme between 1984 and 1989. 16 R17s were also given this paint scheme in 1985/86 (one of which is car 6688, it has been preserved in this paint scheme), but were retired by 1988, well before the name "Redbird" caught on. Today, repurposed Redbird cars compose garbage trains.
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History
These cars were built by two different manufacturers.
The cars provided passenger service on the 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 trains. They were occasionally used on Fan Trips on some B Division services as well.
Retirements and replacements
Most Redbirds were phased out from 2001 to 2003 and replaced by the new R142 and R142A cars. The final trip made by a train consisting of Redbirds was made on November 3, 2003 on the 7. 1,292 Redbirds have been sunk at sea off the coasts of Delaware (Redbird Reef), Georgia, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Virginia as artificial reefs to promote marine life, to serve as a barrier and to enhance recreational scuba diving by Weeks Marine Inc. An episode of CSI: NY titled "The Deep" used these cars as part of the story line, and even featured well-replicated underwater shots of mock ups of the cars. However, the show places them in New York City's East River.
Preservation
Some Redbirds are used in the Train of Many Colors excursions, which includes numerous historical subway cars in their original livery, showing contrasting colors. These cars are in the museum fleet. R33 #9075 is on display at Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens, Queens. R28 pair 7926-7927 are preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois with trolley poles added for the ability to run on the museum's mainline.