More Redbirds Head Off To Swim With The Fishes

Today while riding a Hudson Line Metro North train from GCT to Beacon, I caught a quick glimpse of a barge being pushed up the river from the 207th Street yards. Piled on board the barge were at least two dozen redbird shells, which I'm assuming are headed for the coast of either NJ or Delaware.

Since I was riding backwards, I sadly didn't have time to grab my camera and snap a picture.

How many RedBirds are in service on the New York City Subway lines?

Amtrak Railfan said:

How many RedBirds are in service on the New York City Subway lines?

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I haven't seen any in quite a while which leads me to believe either none or Very Few. The only spot I did see some was in the Shea Stadium yards.

Exactly why are these old subway cars being dumped off the Atlantic? Isn't that poluting? Plus, what about all the toxic oils and chemicals used in the motors of the cars?

I'm a scuba diver and I'm fully aware of putting man-made vehicles in the water. In US, they stripped everything out such as paint, plastic, tank, upholstery, rubber, fluids, etc. that would pollute the waters. Only thing that is remains is the metal shell. If the windows are too small, they would cut it a little wider for the scuba divers to swim in and out safely. Main purpose is to create artificial reef for the fish, corals, etc.

Click on clean subways website to find more information about it.

Viewliner,

To my knowledge, my line the #7, is the only line that still has redbirds on it. At present I would have to say that there are at least 100 to 150 cars still in service. That number may even be higher, but I'm sure that it's at least 100. I've seen as many as ten trains at one time using redbirds, so with 11 car trains, that puts the number over 100.

These cars will eventually swim with the fishes too, but I think that it's still a few months off before they are retired. At present probably about 2/3 of the #7 cars are the newer R62 cars. The remainder are the R32/R36 Redbirds.

Amfleet,

As GS mentioned, the cars are completly stripped of anything so there is no environmental damage. Once in the water they allow coral reefs to form. Cars that were dropped off of the Carolina's a few years ago are already paying dividends. The local fisherman are loving it, as the fish love the reefs. They say that the areas where the cars were dropped have seen at least a 50% increase in the number of fish caught in those areas.

Last time I was in NYC I remember still seeing some redbirds on the #5, although that was a few months ago and they probably took them off by now. It is still strange to me to see anything other than the redbirds on the #7.