Technically,the Red Birds,were not MTA,they were strictly NYCTA,as they were ordered in the early 1960's! They had both IRT,and BMT/IND versions,50 foot IRT,and 60 foot,BMT/IND! Same basic carbody,except for doors,and width! Exceptionally long lived,and reliable! Worthy successors to the IRT black motors,Flivvers,etc! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!! Thank you 😇 😊! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉!
I remember riding these in the 80's and 90's as the 2 and 5 Local Exp. Cutting class, speeding down from the Bronx to Times Square to go to the arcade. I always thought the R33's had more character than the R62's.... I always called it "American Muscle" vs the "Imports" :)
Nice, i remember when the redbirds were new and how they were a welcome relief to their noisy replacements on the IRT. I didn't know the batteries could kep them going that long! And, it nice to see the under carriage. Nice photography!!
@randomsource Thanks! These are not running off of batteries though, these cars have poles installed on the roofs to run off of overhead wiring like a trolley.
@MaBooTA37 I'm pretty certain the third rail shoes were disconnected when the car was converted to overhead power and left in place for looks only. I know this is the case with a few other rapid transit cars they have.
It pains me to see one of our beloved R33's in a museum with a trolley pole sticking out of its head. Now that's what I call a Red Bird with its wings clipped. I guess it beats being gutted and dumped off a barge some where off the east coast being turned into an artificial reef...
great job very artistic. One of my favorite places in the world. I went off season one time and I still got a free tour-in fact they were trying to get me to work that day lol Good people that keep this history alive God bless them!
Thanks for posting this. I grew up riding these classic cars back in the 60s-70s. Neat hearing the old piston compressor pumping as I always enjoyed that sound as a kid. Another cool surprise is seeing that MP54 MU car at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="167">2:47</a>. If it's a 3rd rail unit it was likely a Long Island railroad unit. The pantograph versions ran on the Pennsy, I think.
Great video! One of those is not a Redbird, it’s a R21 or R22, which i would say are more of Pre-Redbirds. They were retired in the 80s instead of the 2000s and were single units rather than married pairs.
@ThePandaTrain7 Why is it dangerous? I was communicating with the operator so he knew what I was doing and when it was safe to move. If you're talking about the safety of the camera, I checked the clearances below the car before every shot, and on top of that it was wrapped in a T-shirt so there was no risk of oil getting onto it.
@jdgator95 thanks for clarifying. i couldn't see the pole which was good too!!! i always thought the batteries were used when the third rail stopped due to switch tracks or grade crossings like on the BMT.
I like how you had the camera posing as your eye sight it was pretty cool, the train operatops in the NYC Subway who bother to video tape at all should do that instead if they have a train with a master controler, power/brake combined in one controling lever instead if a brake handle, nice video!!!!
up until a mr incredible uncanny meme have I only seen the redbird carriages in a children's book. but nowadays you need diving equipment to see most of these girls...
Rellyohboy. I get what you are saying but they are mostly a trolley museum and they ran as the name implies, in a trolley (the wheel that runs along the wire is called the trolley but it became the common name) So of course, they had to run a connection from the wire-it is still very neat to see. Maybe you could plan a trip up there. Stay at Old Orchard beach a few miles away or anyone of the small towns nearby. They have a racetrack/casino nearby and amusement parks-I sound like a travle agent
@jdgator95 I know I am late to the game, but there is another danger. I notice that the third rail shoes are still connected to the trucks. It is widely known and taught amonst people who work around rapid transit vehicles in NYCT that the off-side rail shoe on a truck will be charged and live if the other side is in contact with the 3rd rail and the motor is powered. I would think Seashore disconnected the shoes when they installed the trolley poles.(rodeliot)
A bit of technical trivia,that Long Island car,is an MP54,and they came in several flavors,full coach,combine,mail/,baggage,baggage,mail and trailers,of assorted types! Between the Long Island and PRR,there were about 2000 cars in operation! One additional thing,when Penn Station opened,it was all third rail,and the trains were turned over to steam engines at Manhattan Transfer,and Jamaica respectively! Also they had the DD-1's for motive power in 1913! Interesting history,but little appreciated now! Thank you for your attention! Thank you 😇 😊 !
It's been converted to run on 3 phase 240 Volts AC (Alternating current) instead of 600 volts DC (Direct current). Power lines above are energized with 3 phase 240 volts by 3 200 amp fuses in a wayside cutoff switch and a 3 pole (3 phase) 200 amp circuit breaker at the electric meter
Mate what are you even smoking. Seashore runs 600VDC and you couldn't get anything on a SMEE car to work on 3 phase even if you had the two wires overhead needed to make it work. Rails would have to be one phase, two wires overhead would be the other two. Not to mention you couldn't use the rails as the third phase safely because unlike in a DC system they would not be ground.
The power is provided by overhead catenary lines and the train picks up the power via an antenna on the roof like a trolley car. They done this conversion so pedestrians and small children can safely cross tracks without getting killed by electric shock. The motors were rebuilt as well to run on 3 phase 220-240 volts AC instead of 600 volts DC
How is the three phase being provided? I only see a single feeder wire, and I would assume that the rails themselves are not energized. Is it fed with single phase, then converted to three phase on the traction motors, or is a three phase motor used to provide power to drive a motor generator or rotary converter to create DC for the wire?
