The R-33S subway car that was salvaged from the
drink before it could be lowered off the shores of Cape May, NJ has apparently
worn out its welcome on Queens Blvd. In 2005, it was saved to be a welcome/tourist
center in Queens Blvd outside borough headquarters and the nearby courthouse.
At the time, former
Borough President Helen Marshall’s office paid for a $500,000 rehab and laying
of the track panels that are beneath the car.
Ironically, the car that was built in 1963 never
operated on the IRT #7 Flushing line. Out of 1400 of this car type built, this ‘Redbird’
was one of 770 that received a general
overhaul and this color (nicknamed Gunn Red) red paint in the 1980s.
The
closing is seen as a failure to market the salvaged subway car as a tourist
center in Queens. Maybe it can be moved to Times Square where it would sit over
the IRT 1, 2 and 3 7th Avenue subway lines where it really operated in its
heyday.
The Redbirds
went out of service in November of 2004 on the Flushing line.
The staffer that worked in the car was quoted in the
local media that she was disappointed it was closing but a new concept could
replace it.
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