R36 (New York City Subway car)

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R36
A "Main Line" R36 train covered in graffiti on the 1 service at 125th Street in September 1973
R36 Redbird leaving Flushing-Main Street after being used for the movie "Caught Stealing" in 2024
In service	1963–2003
Manufacturer	St. Louis Car Company
Built at	St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Family name	Redbirds
Replaced	Many Steinway Lo-Vs Many Standard Lo-Vs
Constructed	1963–1964
Entered service	1963
Refurbished	1981–1986
Scrapped	2001–2003
Number built	424 34 ("Main Line") 390 ("World's Fair")
Number preserved	4
Number scrapped	420 32 ("Main Line") 384 ("World's Fair") 4 ("World's Fair") in storage
Successor	R142 and R142A
Formation	Married Pairs
Fleet numbers	9346–9523, 9558–9769 ("World's Fair") 9524–9557 ("Main Line")
Capacity	44 (seated)
Operators	New York City Subway
Specifications
Car body construction	LAHT (Low Alloy High Tensile steel)
Car length	51.04 feet (15.56 m)
Width	8.75 feet (2,667 mm)
Height	11.86 feet (3,615 mm)
Doors	6 sets of 50 inch wide side doors per car
Weight	69,400 lb (31,500 kg) (pre-rebuild) 72,000 lb (33,000 kg) (rebuild units)
Traction system	9346–9557: Westinghouse XCA248 9558–9769: General Electric 17KG192 with Westinghouse (WH) 1447C or General Electric (GE) 1240A5 DC motors (4/car, 100 hp or 75 kW)
Traction motors	Westinghouse 1447C motors (4/car)
Power output	4 x 100 hp (75 kW)
Acceleration	2.5 mph/s (4.0 km/(h⋅s))
Deceleration	3.0 mph/s (4.8 km/(h⋅s))
Auxiliaries	Motor-generator and battery set (WH YX304E, GE 5GMG 153LI)
Electric system(s)	600 V DC Third rail
Current collector(s)	Contact shoe
Braking system(s)	WABCO, "SMEE" (electrodynamic)
Safety system(s)	emergency brakes
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The R36 was a New York City Subway car model built by the St. Louis Car Company from 1963 to 1964. The cars are a "follow-up" or supplemental stock to the A Division's R33s, which some of the cars closely resemble. A total of 424 cars were built, arranged in pairs. The order includes World's Fair cars comprising 390 cars, and Main Line cars comprising 34 cars.^[1]

The R36s entered service on October 24, 1963, and were overhauled in the mid-1980s. They were retired by 2003 with the delivery of the R142 and R142A cars. While most cars were reefed, some have been preserved, and others have been retained for other purposes.