World Trade Center PATH Car Welcomed ​‘Home’

It was a homecoming that any hero would take pride in.

PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) Car 745 survived the devastation of Sept. 11, 2001, protected by a cast iron shell, and will take its place among the antique trolleys and cars of the Shore Line Trolley Museum.

East Haven welcomed the new addition on Thursday with a short but poignantly moving parade.

At Sprague, Shore Line Trolley Museum’s Headquarters, a predecessor to the PATH cars awaited the new arrival. The vintage 1928 No. 503 was part of Hudson & Manhattan line.

PATH 745 was escorted by local police, fire, and emergency personnel to the museum itself. It came into East Haven on a flatbed truck.

Various dignitaries spoke at the event, including First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove, Selectman Joe Higgins, East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo, US Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and state Sen. Sean Scanlon, along with representatives of the museum. Here some of them march in the parade.

Traditional bagpipers preceded PATH 745 parade from Hemingway Avenue to the end of River Street.

Including this solemn bagpiper. 

The train will undergo inspection by the museum’s mechanical staff before being opened to the public in the fall.

“Go Touch That Car”

Museum events coordinator Wayne Sandford provided some background on the acquisition and introduced the speakers with PATH 745 in the background.

East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo described the occasion as ​“exciting and somber,” adding that 9/11 ​“changed our lives forever. This car will memorialize that day.”

“After the attacks of September 11th, we as a national made a pledge to never forget, to never forget not only the tragedy that took place on 9/11, but the bravery and heroism that occurred,” said Branford First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove (pictured). ​“To never forget the ideals and values that built this great country. Never forget that rather than breaking us, it united us.”

Addressing all the public safety officers, US Sen. Richard Blumenthal (pictured here with Mayor Maturo and Wayne Sandford) said, ​“We’re reminded of what we owe you…. Since the day this car was buried at the bottom of 9/11…millions of American men and women have gone to war… I want to say a special thanks to veterans here today….

He added, ​“A lot of folks may look at this subway car and say, ​‘it’s just a piece of metal.’ But sometimes inanimate things take on a life, sometimes they have a spirit. And I urge everyone before you leave, just go touch that car. I think it conveys a spirit of sacrifice and service on the part of men and women who ran into the towers to save people they didn’t know.

​“More than a relic, more than a piece of metal, it’s a tribute to those men and women and victims of tragedy…

“I am so proud and excited that it has been brought home, this will be its home – to East Haven and Branford and Connecticut,” Blumenthal said.

State Sen. Sean Scanlon, who comes from a family of police officers, described the car as a ​“beautiful testament to a horrible day.”

Selectman Joseph E. Higgins, now retired from the New York City Fire Department, shared his experiences from that day, which began with ​“fire buff talk,” among colleagues, he said.

Higgins said he was ​“number one on the chain to be notified… I was trying to figure out what the heck was going on until I got to the center span of the Brooklyn Bridge and looked up… it looked like a Spielberg movie.”

While not as vintage as the 100-plus trolleys and cars that make up the museum’s collection, PATH 745 survived one of the most tragic events in United States history.

Museum president Jeff Hakner said PATH 745 would be the ​“most significant car in the collection.” He spoke of its threshold plate and the ​“ebb and flow of footsteps… until there were no footsteps.”

The car, which was parked in the PATH station under the World Trade Center on 9/11, is one of seven that were found in a cast iron tunnel. The strength of the tunnel protected the cars from the pressures from the collapsing buildings above.

Put into service in 1972, PATH 745 was acquired through an agreement with The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The car itself was donated, although the museum will pick the $20,000 cost for its transport. Sandford said the acquisition took more than a year. He said that museum’s president emeritus, William Wall, and the board went through ​“quite a discussion and planning process.”

The acquisition is even more significant because many people associated with the museum are first responders.

9/11

On the morning of 9/11 the PATH cars were sent to the World Trade Center to pick up passengers, but with evacuation underway, they were simply left standing in the tunnel. No passengers were found inside when they was discovered during excavation. PATH cars 745 and 143 were carefully extracted from the sub-basements beneath the World Trade Center site.

Since then, Car 745 has been housed in an airplane hangar at JFK Airport; it’s still in the same condition as when it was excavated from the tunnel in the World Trade Center cleanup. The car was to be included in the 9/11 Memorial Museum but was determined to be too big for their site.

According to Nathan Nietering, director of the Shore Line Trolley Museum, PATH 745 hasn’t rolled on a railroad rail since 2001. ​“We’re not even 100 percent sure all the wheels will turn,” he said in an email. ​“A lot of water entered the subway tunnel on 9/11 and in the days thereafter from firefighting and burst water mains, flooding critical components. We know the car will not run under its own power in its current condition.”

He added, ​“Late in the day the car will be moved off the flatbed trailer onto our rails, and then it will be towed to our trolley yard when the inspection will begin in the coming days.”

For those unfamiliar with the trolley museum’s set up, the museum itself and the departing point for the trolley rides is located at the end of River Street. Tracks a short way across the marsh take visitors to the trolley yard, with buildings and workshops that house the vintage trolleys; that section of the museum is in Branford and that is where the PATH car will reside.

PATH 245’s Journey

PATH 745 had been housed in Hangar 17 at JFK Airport along with other relics from 9/11. Its journey to East Haven began when two cranes lifted it onto a flatbed trailer.

Silk Road Transport of Arkport, New York, was hired for transport; the company specializes in such moves. ​“We regularly use them for trolley car movements over the road. They’re regarded as experts in such hauling,” said Nietering.

He said that the load rested on a special flatbed trailer and because it was oversized, it was inspected and permitted over a specific route. The route along I‑95 has too many low bridges, thus this car from New York traveled up to I‑84, then came across I‑691 and down I‑91 to get to East Haven.

Nieterling said the museum is planning to put the car on exhibit in the fall ​“where visitors will be able to view it in its current condition.” Sandford said the car has been cleaned, but will be washed down.

In 2016, a more formal exhibit will be constructed possibly with World Trade Center PATH station signage salvaged from the site and portions of the original cast iron subway tunnel dating back to the early 20th century.

The inside of the train appears much like the day its service ended at the World Trade Center.

Like most subway cars, the interior is filled with advertisements. One large sign depicted the arrival of the U.S. Open Tennis tournament.

Another is an ironic reminder of that tragic day.

###