trainfan22 Posted February 2, 2021 Share #1 Posted February 2, 2021 When a massive snowstorm threatens to paralyze New York City’s subway system, the Redbirds fly to the rescue. A fleet of 60-year-old trains known as Redbirds for their bright red color — even though they are now painted yellow — have been repurposed by to keep the subway tracks clear of ice. Instead of hauling passengers, which they started doing in 1962, the retro-fitted Redbirds now carry 55-gallon drums of propylene glycol, a chemical used to melt ice from the electrified third rail that keeps subway cars moving. The reincarnated Redbirds — tricked out by savvy subway engineers to extend their usefulness — can de-ice electrified rails where other train cars cannot, thanks to the ice scrapers and chemical sprayers that have replaced the regular metal shoes that draw power from subway rails. Transit engineers over the last 15 years have repurposed a dozen old “Redbird” cars to build train sets to protect the city’s above-ground subway tracks from winter blizzards just like the one that walloped the city on Monday. The cheery, cherry-colored cars carried millions of New Yorkers until they were retired in 2003 Link to rest of the article: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-mta-snow-clearing-train-ice-20210201-doqd4llfnnhxjcfjdjyt4g35mm-story.html#rt=chartbeat-flt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHV9218 Posted February 3, 2021 Share #2 Posted February 3, 2021 Careful, another story about this and Clayton'll try get these scrapped like the RTSes... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R10 2952 Posted February 3, 2021 Share #3 Posted February 3, 2021 1 hour ago, MHV9218 said: Careful, another story about this and Clayton'll try get these scrapped like the RTSes... Do people really take that idiot seriously? I thought he was in the same league as Pinesniffer... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawrence St Posted February 3, 2021 Share #4 Posted February 3, 2021 Is it true that one of the fans asked MTA what the status of the remaining 10 car R38's were and they scrapped them soon after? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Posted February 3, 2021 Share #5 Posted February 3, 2021 41 minutes ago, R10 2952 said: Do people really take that idiot seriously? I thought he was in the same league as Pinesniffer... The latter hardly has a platform to stand on. The former got the attention of Eric Adams. I know the bodies are far from being in the best shape, but I hope they're able to make it to a total of 70 years (at the very least). They've proven to be incredibly useful and iconic in and out of revenue service. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainfan22 Posted February 3, 2021 Author Share #6 Posted February 3, 2021 53 minutes ago, Lawrence St said: Is it true that one of the fans asked MTA what the status of the remaining 10 car R38's were and they scrapped them soon after? I've been on railfan forums since when the R38s were still in service and this is the first time I'm hearing about this. I don't think railfans had access to people who make those type of decisions back then. Even today, only thing you can do is ask the NYCT Subway Twitter account which probably has a intern tweeting/answering tweets, not people who decide what subway gets saved or scrapped. 48 minutes ago, Lex said: The latter hardly has a platform to stand on. The former got the attention of Eric Adams. I know the bodies are far from being in the best shape, but I hope they're able to make it to a total of 70 years (at the very least). They've proven to be incredibly useful and iconic in and out of revenue service. These redbirds will probably stay in work service until the R62/A's retire, then they could use the stainless steels bodies of the 62s as rider cars, de icers, etc. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Around the Horn Posted February 4, 2021 Share #7 Posted February 4, 2021 9 hours ago, Lawrence St said: Is it true that one of the fans asked MTA what the status of the remaining 10 car R38's were and they scrapped them soon after? As I recall it was someone emailing them about Redbirds hoping to save one for a museum and they were scrapped afterward. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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