R36 World's Fair (New York City Subway car)
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The R36 World's Fair (also known as R36WF) cars were built in 1964 by the St. Louis Car Company, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA and were designed and built exclusively for service on the 7-Flushing Local IRT train route of the New York Subway for the 1964 New York World's Fair.
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Early History
The R36 story begins in 1962, when the New York City Transit Authority 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 are needed since the 7 runs 11-car trains and R36's come in only pairs, which are 2-car sets.) The cars were to be painted in a light blue turquoise "Bluebird" scheme when built (see "Paint Schemes" below) and with large picture windows unlike other IRT cars. 34 R36's were built fot the IRT Main Line and had small drop sash windows.
The first R36 cars arrived in November/December 1963, shortly after the R33WF's arrived in October. With the fair opening the coming April 12, R36 cars were being built and delivered in larger amounts. More cars arrived throughout 1964, enough to replace the R12, R14 and R15 off the 7 by that close of that year.
The 1970s
Through the 1970s the R36's were reliable and were the mainstay of the 7. The cars kept their original paint until 1971-1972, when some were repainted in the new "Silver & Blue" scheme. Later around 1975 graffiti hit the entire subway system. Most cars had their original paint covered up by then or were given new white "anti-graffiti" covering by 1982.
The GOH program and Rebuilding
The R36 were the first cars to be rebuilt in the NYCTA's General Overhaul (GOH) program in the mid 1980s. This program improved car life by rebuilding older cars and keeping other cars in good repair. From 1982-1986 the R36 cars were rebuilt, with the majority of them were done in-house at the 7 line's shop in Corona, Queens and at the TA's main shop at Coney Island, Brooklyn. Other were rebuilt by GE in Buffalo, New York and by Amtrak at its Beech Grove, Indiana and Wilmington, Delaware shops.
The flagship of the 7, Redbirds, 1990s
After rebuilding, the 7 Train's R36 cars were first repainted in a red scheme circa 1986. At first the scheme, known as "Silver Fox" or "Gunn Red" after NYCT chief David Gunn was a graffiti resistant red that was also easy to clean off. By 1989 the scheme evolved into the famous "Redbird" scheme known today.
The 1990s were a good decade for the 7 and its R36's. The R36's were among the best in fleet in reliablity, second in the IRT to the newer R62's from 1983.
Phasing Out
In 1998 MTA New York City Transit annouced that it would phase out its Redbird cars. The Redbirds-R26, R28, R29, R33 and R36 would be replaced by modern R142 cars. Redbirds were sunk into the Atlantic Ocean as artificial reefs.
While the Redbirds on the IRT Main Line were beginning to be retired starting in early 2001, the 7 was all Redbird until January 2002. That month, a set of R62A's arrived from the IRT Main Line. As R142 sets were delivered, the 1, 3, 4 and 6 lines would give up their R62A's to the 7, replacing R36's. R36's were still plentiful in 2002, since R142 delivery was slow that year.
By mid-2003 Redbird sets were dwindling on the 7 by week and month. Only about several sets running by fall. A "Farewell to the Redbirds" run ran along the 7 in early November 2003 to mark the retirement of the Redbird cars.
As of December 2004, there is about 1 trainset (10 cars) of R36's left.
Future
There have been rumors that the R36's would run in service one last time in 2004 on the 7 for the Centennial of the New York City Subway and the 40th Anniversary of the 1964 World's Fair. Some R33 WF cars ran in place of R36s, as some were in too poor condition to be in service on the 7.
Some R36 cars might be sent to a museum. Again. this has not been confirmed.
Paint Schemes
The R36 cars have worn many paint schemes since 1964.
- World's Fair Light Blue "Bluebird" (Turquoise blue) (1964-circa till 1980)
- Silver & Blue (1971-82)
- Plain White (1982-86)
- Red, nickname: "Redbird" (1986/89-Beyond)
R-36 WORLD's FAIR CAR (WF) SPECIFICATIONS
- Car Builder: Saint Louis Rail Car Company in ST LOUIS, MO (USA)
- Unit Numbers 9346-9523, 9558-9769
- Car Body: LAHT alloy welded unibody constuction (carbon alloy steel)
- Car Length: 51 feet, 6 inches LONG
- Car Width: 8 feet, 7-3/16 inches WIDE
- Car Height: 11 feet, 10-3/8 inches TALL
- Total Weight: 73,000 IBS. (69,000 IBS. pre-rebuild)
- Total Seating: 44
- Propulsion System: Westinghouse XCA248 (9346-9523), General Electric 17KG192 (9558-9769)
- DC Motors: Westinghouse (WH) 1447C, General Electric (GE) 1240A5
- POWER: 100 HorsePower (75 kW) 4 per car
- Braking System: WABCO SMEE with ME42 brake valve (electrodyanamic)
- Cab Arrangement: Half-width driver's cab at "A" end, half-width conductor's cab at "B" end
- Coupling/Numbering Arrangement: All married pairs.
- NOTE: During the rebuilding, All R36 WF cars equip with Air Condition system instead of the original fan.
External links
- nycsubway.org - NYC Subway Cars: R33/R36 World's Fair (http://www.nycsubway.org/cars/r3336wf.html)