I don't know the answer to your first question, but I have an idea why the pantograph is leaning backward under the catenary. The MTH catenary contact wire has a rough surface. If you run your finger along the bottom of the catenary you will fell the roughness I am speaking of. Also, if the catenary is set too low, it may cause the pan to lean back.
A solution to the rough surface would be to take some very fine emery cloth and hand sand the underside of the catenary. With a bit of fiddling, you can also wrap the contact shoe of the pantograph with emery cloth or get a track cleaner eraser and attach it to the pantograph shoe. Now just let you locomotive do the work. It will take quite a few passes for the catenary metal to smooth out.
