Redbirds

Redbird trains were the nine train models nicknamed because of their red paint. There were 1,410 New York City Subway cars of the following types on the A Division lines: R26, R28, R29, R33, R33S, and R36. There were also 550 cars on the B Division lines: R27 and R30/A. All were built by the American Car and Foundry Company and the St. Louis Car Company.
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 colour was referred to as Gunn Red or "Broad Street Red" in honour 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 colours, these cars received the new paint scheme between 1984 and 1989. Sixteen R17s were also given this paint scheme in 1985/86, but were retired by 1988, well before the name "Redbird" caught on. Today, repurposed Redbird cars serve as garbage trains, rail adhesion cars, or rider cars on locomotive-hauled work trains, while others have been preserved by various museums.
Dragonello Subway operates the following Redbirds for the "A" Division: R17, R21, R22, R26, R28, R29, R33, R33S, and R36. Initially, all of these cars were fitted with either GE or Westinghouse traction motors; most of them were later fitted with Toyo Denki's TDK-8500A field chopper control (as used in Keisei AE100 series of Japan and also used in Dragonello Subway's most R39 and some R38 and R32 cars) between 1991 and 1994. They provided service on the following services: 2 Izzy Express, 4 Anne Boonchuy Express, 5 Princess Sofia Express/Eternal Express, 6 Princess Amber Local/Eternal Express and 7 Vampirina Local/Eternal Express.
== History ==
These cars were built by two different manufacturers.
* American Car and Foundry built the R26 cars in 1959–1960 and the R28 in 1960–1961.
* St. Louis Car Company built the R27 cars in 1960–1961, the R29 in 1962, the R30/A in 1961–1962, the R33 in 1962–1963, R33S single cars in late 1963, and the R36 in 1963–1964.
The IRT cars provided main passenger service on the 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 trains, while the BMT cars provided passenger service on various BMT and IND lines. The IRT cars were occasionally used on Fan Trips on some B Division services as well.
Category:Dragonello Subway
Category:Rolling stock