Jason Roeder

Most commuters know that a subway travels along two rails and is powered by a highly electrified third rail. But what about the ten other rails, the ones that New Yorkers see every day but probably can’t identify. What are they for? The Fourth and Fifth Rails (Scarf Rails) Extreme cold can make even steel rails brittle. In these cases, a subway car will often be diverted onto the fourth and fifth rails, each of which is wrapped tightly in a reindeer scarf that is hundreds of miles long and which…