By Joseph Morales

            The New York City Transit Museum ran its first run of The Train of Many Colors this year on the 1 line between 137th St-City College and Chambers St in Manhattan. The train features subway cars with multiple different colors that were manufactured in the 1960’s and served through different eras of the New York City Subway system and were retired as recently as 2003. These cars were the R-33, R-33WF(World’s Fair) and R-36 cars. Cars with the Kale Green “Green Machines”,“Tartar Red” and “Gunn Red” Redbird, two-tone robin’s egg blue and cream “Bluebird” as well as the blue-and-silver “Platinum Mist” color schemes were all featured on the train and these schemes are all likely familiar to most adult New Yorkers. The train also featured special holiday decorations which included some paper snowflakes on the windows as well as a special snowflake designed wreath at the front of the train. 

The Train of Many Colors pulls into the 137th St-City College Station.

Interior of a car on the Train of Many Colors that includes some holiday decorations.

Train Destination Signage within the Train Of Many Colors.

Bluebird and Redbird Cars on the Train of Many Colors.

               The R33’s were subway cars that served in the NYC Subway system from 1962-2003 and was the first A Division(Numbered Lines) set of train cars to be retrofitted with air conditioning. The cars were painted different colors at numerous points during their time in service.  Some R33’s also known as R33WF’s served on the Flushing Line(7 Train) during the 1964 World’s Fair in Queens. These cars were retired in 2003 and replaced with R142’s and R142As. The R142s currently run on the 2, 4 and 5 trains and some R142As run on the 4 train. These trains are built with stainless steel and have a modern interior as well as automated stop announcements. While these trains have been retired from passenger service, they have been used for several purposes over the years  and one car was even used as an exhibit at Queens Borough Hall.

Redbird passing through 137th St-City College station in Harlem, Manhattan.

  Bluebird car as well as a silver and blue car on the Train of Many Colors.

               The R36s served eras similar to that of the R33s as the R36s were in service from 1963-2003. These cars too had varying color schemes, with the one’s themed based on the World’s Fair being painted in a light blue turquoise also known as a “Bluebird” scheme and cars being used in regular service that were dubbed as “Main Line” cars being painted with the bright red  “redbird” scheme. 

                Even the Train of Many Colors that was built to commemorate these subway cars and their legacies boasts a lot of history. The train has been used for many special events such as holiday nostalgia rides, several Mets and Yankees home openers in addition to some Mets postseason games and more. Some subway cars that were once used for regular service are frozen in time, with one car featuring a MTA hiring advertisement from 2003, when redbirds last ran on the NYC Subway. Some of the car types used on the TOMC is stored year round at the 207th St Yard in Inwood, Manhattan. 

MTA hiring ad from 2003 still sits on a Redbird train car that was last in service almost 20 years ago.

Train Car Types Used on the Train Of Many Colors in 207th St Train Yard as seen from University Heights Bridge.

                It is amazing the types of history New York City Subway cars have been through over the years and some of the amazing events that the cars have been responsible for safely getting people to and from. Now during the holiday season for the next three Sundays until December 18th, New Yorkers will have the chance to spread their gratitude for the city’s subway system and its past this holiday season.

Works Cited

New York Transit Museum. “New York Transit Museum on Facebook | Ghost archive.” Ghost archive, 26 September 2017, https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/89895068842/10155187942803843. Accessed 29 November 2022.

“Holiday Nostalgia Rides.” New York Transit Museum, 2022, https://www.nytransitmuseum.org/nostalgiarides/. Accessed 29 November 2022.

Brachfeld, Ben. “Vintage Redbird leaves Queens Borough Hall en route to new home.” amNewYork, 16 October 2022, https://www.amny.com/transit/redbird-leaves-queens-for-new-home/. Accessed 29 November 2022.