R36 (New York City Subway car)

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 (R33S), with the rest being R36 cars; single cars were needed since the 7 service runs 11-car trains, and R36 cars were built only in pairs.

The first R36 cars ("World's Fair" cars 9558–9561) arrived in fall 1963, shortly after the R33S cars began arriving in September that year. The first train of R33S and "World's Fair" R36 cars was placed in service on the 7 route on October 24, 1963. With the fair opening approaching on April 12, 1964, "World's Fair" R36 cars were built and delivered in larger quantities that fall. More "World's Fair" cars arrived throughout 1964, enough to displace the R12s, R14s and R15s from the 7 train by the close of 1964.

The "Main Line" R36s entered service on the 4 almost a year later, on July 24, 1964. The cars ran on the IRT main lines (Broadway–Seventh Avenue and Lexington Avenue) - mainly on the 1 and 3 - until their overhauls.

By 1982, all cars had received air conditioning as part of a retrofitting program to replace the cars' original Axiflow ceiling fans.

The "World's Fair" 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 R36 cars were repainted in a scheme involving a deep maroon red body, black front bonnets and anti-climbers, and a silver roof prior to returning to service. At first, the scheme was known as "Silver Fox," "Broad Street Red," or "Gunn 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, "World's Fair" cars 9478–9523 usually ran on the 6 train based at Westchester Yard in the Bronx. Previously, some Westinghouse-equipped cars had been assigned to the 1 and 3 trains in the 1970s. The "Main Line" cars usually ran on the 7 from 1984 to 1988, and were transferred to the 6 from 1988 to 2001, when they were returned to the 7. During this time, some cars also provided occasional service on the 4 route, which occasionally uses equipment borrowed from the 6.

In 1996, the New York City Transit Authority announced their plans to phase out the Redbirds with the R142 and R142A fleets.

With the arrival of the R142As on the 6, the "Main Line" R36s were transferred over to the 7. While the Redbirds on the IRT Main Line were retired starting in early 2001, the 7 service was still provided by R33S cars and R36s. 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 R33S cars and R36s. The last "Main Line" R36 pair, 9542-9543, ran on the 7 until its retirement in August 2003. The last train of "World's Fair" R36s, consisting of pairs 9564–9565, 9616–9617, 9582–9583, 9584–9585, and 9586–9587 finally ran along the 7 on November 3, 2003 with R33S car 9309, marking the end of the Redbird cars and non-stainless steel cars in the subway.

Most of the Redbirds (1,294) were stripped and then submerged off the coast of Delaware, New Jersey, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia as artificial barrier and diving reefs, by Weeks Marine. Several other R36 cars were saved for various purposes throughout the New York City Subway system. The full list includes:

• "Main Line" pair 9542-9543 - preserved by the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn since 2004.[2][3] This pair is currently stored at the 207th Street Yard, awaiting restoration.[lower-alpha 1]
• "World's Fair" pair 9584–9585 - part of the rail adhesion train. They operate with four R33Ss.
• "World's Fair" pair 9586–9587 - also preserved by the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn. These cars were stored for many years, until being moved to the Concourse Yard in summer 2013. In September 2013, the pair was moved to 207th Street Yard and restored to operating status. The cars were initially displayed at the transit museum, and finally participated on their first fan trip on June 8, 2014 on the 7 route, as part of the Train of Many Colors.

"World's Fair" pair 9582–9583 also remains on MTA property. They were transferred to the Unionport Yard, along with pairs 9584–9585, and 9586–9587. However, these cars ended up being stored due to structural issues and are now awaiting scrapping.

In addition to these cars, other cars were also stored around the system. "World's Fair" pair 9400-9401 was stored at the Corona Yard for preservation; however, the cars were never used and were scrapped on October 7, 2013. "World's Fair" pair 9564–9565 was set aside and transferred to Coney Island Yard in December 2004; car 9564 was planned to be repurposed into a visitor center at Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens, Queens, and the car 9565 was planned to be preserved in a museum in West Babylon, New York. However, R33 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. "World's Fair" pair 9588–9589 was stored at the Concourse Yard until 2008, when the pair was reefed.