R33 (New York City Subway car)

R33 car 9010 on the Train of Many Colors in 2008

In 1996, New York City Transit announced that it would begin phasing out all Redbirds with the arrival of the R142s and R142As, which entered service in 2000.[7] The last train of R33s consisting of pairs 8842–8843, 9090–9091, 9240–9241, 9294–9295, 9302–9303, made its last trip on the 4 route on April 20, 2003.[8]

Most of the retired cars were stripped and dumped into the Atlantic Ocean to form artificial reefs. 21 pairs were painted yellow and black and converted to work service as R161 rider cars RD400–RD441 from 1999 to 2007,[9][10] allowing the retirement of the older R71 rider cars. RD407 (ex-8869) was damaged in a derailment and was scrapped in 2013. RD440–RD441 were further converted into de-icer cars.

The R33 cars not converted into rider cars were saved for various purposes throughout the New York City Subway system. The full list includes:

• 8885 – converted into a rail adhesion car for the IRT Dyre Avenue Line after a derailment south of the Franklin Avenue station that led to the retirement of its mate, 8884.[11] The car is hauled by other cars during the fall season.
• 8912–8913 – used as a static display at the Tiffany Street Iron Shops, a training facility for elevated structure workers in Hunts Point, Bronx. This pair was previously involved in a derailment at the 239th Street Yard.
• 9010–9011, 9016–9017, 9068–9069 and 9206–9207 – preserved for the New York Transit Museum. They were repainted into various vintage paint schemes and have been used for various purposes since retirement, mainly on the Train of Many Colors.

Car 9075 was previously displayed outside Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens, Queens. The car was retrofitted with swinging doors and converted to a tourist center, but was closed in 2015 due to low patronage.[12] Afterwards, the car was used as a landmark and for movie shoots[13] until it was put up for auction in June 2022.[14][15] The car was finally trucked out of New York City on October 16, 2022.[16]

Other cars were retained for work service until 2013, when they were scrapped. The full list includes:

• Pairs 8812–8813, 8834–8835, 8996–8997, and 9000–9001 – used to haul refuse trains until being scrapped in 2013. It was based from the 38th Street Yard, and was replaced with R32s restricted to work service.
• Pair 8888–8889 – used to haul refuse trains until being scrapped in 2013. It was based from the Westchester Yard, but in 2011 was mothballed when Westchester Yard stopped using subway cars for work service.
• Pair 9156–9157 – used for police training at Floyd Bennett Field until late 2013, when the pair was replaced by R32 GE-rebuilt pair 3594–3595. The cars were moved to Linden Yard, and then up to the 207th Street Yard in 2014 for disposal.