By SERGEY KADINSKY
Forgotten NY correspondent
While traveling to the scenic Barretto Point Park in Hunts Point, Bronx, I experienced an unexpected Redbird sighting on Tiffany Street. This beloved subway train model operated between 1959 and 2003.
Since its retirement, most Redbird cars found a second life as underwater reefs off the eastern seaboard, one became an unused tourism kiosk at Queens Borough Hall, one car was added to the Train of Many Colors, another pair is kept at the Illinois Railway Museum, and another at Shoreline Trolley Museum, while others were repurposed as work trains.
These two cars stand above the MTA Infrastructure Division yard at Oak Point Avenue and Tiffany Street. They were placed here after their retirement and haven’t moved an inch since then. I was not able to see what train line they served but the destination sign on the front appropriately notes “Not in Service.” My guess is that these two cars and their short “trestle to nowhere” are here for training purposes.
Sergey Kadinsky is the author of Hidden Waters of New York City: A History and Guide to 101 Forgotten Lakes, Ponds, Creeks, and Streams in the Five Boroughs (2016, Countryman Press)
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop, and as always, “comment…as you see fit.”
8/16/17