The train has left the building

A conversation about a project that was half completed but it should not have started in the first place. The speaker said “too bad but the train has left the building”. This is a mashup of “that train has left the station” (option is no longer available) and “Elvis has left the building” (performance or act has ended, or someone has left a place in a dramatic fashion). Both idioms refer to endings. “That train has left the station” has been garbled several times before, as loyal malaphor followers know. Other malaphors include “that train has sailed” and “that bus has sailed”. https://malaphors.com/2015/11/13/that-train-has-sailed/. https://malaphors.com/2023/03/09/that-bus-has-sailed/

“Elvis has left the building” idiom comes from an announcement famously made at the end of Elvis Presley concerts alerting people that he vacated the premises and no further encores would be played.

A big thanks to Andy Jacobs for hearing this one and sending it in!