Key
Photo credit: 9/11 Memorial staff
Accession Number: C.2023.72.3.1
Dimensions: 6 in X 1 in X 3/8 in
Dimensions (Metric): 15.24 cm X 2.54 cm X 7.62 cm
Dimensions (Metric): 15.24 cm X 2.54 cm X 7.62 cm
Source: Michael Petrowski
Credit Line: Gift of Michael Petrowski
Description
PATH train cutting key. The tool is metal with two prongs at one end; it is used to detach a lead train car from those behind it.
PATH train cutting key. The tool is metal with two prongs at one end; it is used to detach a lead train car from those behind it.
Historical Notes
In 2001, Michael Petrowski worked as a train operator for the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH), which provides train service from Manhattan to Hoboken, Harrison, Jersey City, and Newark, New Jersey. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Petrowski was completing his routine route from Newark’s Penn Station and had pulled into the World Trade Center PATH station mere minutes before hijacked American Flight 11 struck the North Tower. Petrowski’s train was held in place longer than anticipated as a panicked crowd flooded the station platform and filled the passenger cars. Petrowski’s train would be the last passenger PATH train cleared to leave the WTC station that morning, helping transport numerous anxious pedestrians and survivors across the Hudson River. The everyday tools of his trade proved essential to the PATH train’s evacuation on 9/11—a train hand brake, reverser key, cutting key, and cab key. All were used through the remainder of Petrowski’s active career and kept by him as mementoes after his retirement in October 2022.
In 2001, Michael Petrowski worked as a train operator for the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH), which provides train service from Manhattan to Hoboken, Harrison, Jersey City, and Newark, New Jersey. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Petrowski was completing his routine route from Newark’s Penn Station and had pulled into the World Trade Center PATH station mere minutes before hijacked American Flight 11 struck the North Tower. Petrowski’s train was held in place longer than anticipated as a panicked crowd flooded the station platform and filled the passenger cars. Petrowski’s train would be the last passenger PATH train cleared to leave the WTC station that morning, helping transport numerous anxious pedestrians and survivors across the Hudson River. The everyday tools of his trade proved essential to the PATH train’s evacuation on 9/11—a train hand brake, reverser key, cutting key, and cab key. All were used through the remainder of Petrowski’s active career and kept by him as mementoes after his retirement in October 2022.
