Remembering 9/11: Subway Car 745

PATH train car 745.  Even though 9/11 was a tragic event, much can be learned from the attacks.

There are so many memories with the recent passing of the anniversary of 9/11.  One of those memories is subway PATH train car 745.  The car is on display at the Shore Line Trolley Museum in Connecticut where visitors can take a memorable and humble blast from the past. Since the 9/11 attacks, this has been the first time that train car 745 has been on display.  The car will be on permanent display as part of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Car.

PATH train car 745 left on the morning of September 11th from the little town of Hoboken, NJ   for Manhattan with passengers heading to work and hopeful for another day.  Reports tell us that the car looks just as it did 15 years ago with restored straps, handrails, and car poles still intact as they were so long ago.  However, some renovation took place to restore the car due to years in storage and the dents from a crane that picked the car up from the ashes of Ground Zero.

The car looks completely untouched as it did 15 years ago.

A dedication was held on September 11th in honor of the car and so many that lost their lives on the horrific day of events.  John Proto is director of the Shore Line Trolly Museum and he is quoted as saying the car left for a regular work day and it ended up unintentionally in a complete war zone.  Most people will never forget the events that unfolded on September 11th even though it was over a decade ago.

Some 9/11 coverage and commentators mentioned that younger generations do not have a clue about 9/11 and the lives that were lost that day.  Car 745 gives new generations a look into the past and it also gives them something tangible that they can touch.  It is like being transported back in history.

Car 745 being rescued from the sobering wreckage of 9/11.

Car 745 was included in a seven-car train which left Hoboken, NJ, and its time of departure was exactly four minutes before the hijackers hit the first tower of the World Trade Center.  When faithful 745 reached the WTC there was no one left in the station.

Another car that survived 9/11 is car 143.  Car 143 can be found at the Trolly Museum of NYC. The museum is located in Troy. Both cars were stored for many years before they were restored where they collected dust at a Kennedy National Airport hangar.

With tangible memories such as car 745 and 143, it will be impossible for us to forget the days, hours, and years that unfolded after the attacks that plagued the magnificent city of New York. May the memories of those lost live on forever.