rack and pinion railway
Preserved but no longer current.
Railway designed for ascending and descending mountains. It has a third rail cut with teeth over which rides a mechanism which, in the event of an accident, engages the teeth and so prevents the train from falling to the bottom.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “rack and pinion railway” mean?
Railway designed for ascending and descending mountains. It has a third rail cut with teeth over which rides a mechanism which, in the event of an accident, engages the teeth and so prevents the train from falling to the bottom.
Is “rack and pinion railway” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.