After this morning’s full-tilt debacle, the MTA says commuters on the New Haven Line can expect a normal commute. The problems this morning, which involved 90 minute delays, stemmed from a catenary wire that runs above the train (The crummy old cars on the New Haven Line rely on the catenary, whereas the sleek chariots of the Harlem and Hudson Lines use the third rail. Everything I know about this, I learned from Engine Bob.)
According to the MTA, a pantograph–the thing that connects the train to the catenary–lost its “shoe” (what is this, a freakin’ nursery rhyme?). The Journal News has all the bloody details.
“It’s a bad, bad, bad, bad day,” commented MTA spokesperson Marjorie Anders. (That’s not to be confused with ’63 roadrace comedy “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.”)