cable railway

American

noun

a railway on which the cars are pulled by a moving cable under the roadway.

cable railway British

noun

a railway on which individual cars are drawn along by a strong cable or metal chain operated by a stationary motor

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of cable railway

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Portugal is in mourning after at least 17 people died and some 20 more were injured when Lisbon's famous funicular cable railway derailed on Wednesday evening.

From BBC

To reach it, many would ride on the funicular - a type of cable railway - which had a stop just for hotel residents.

From BBC

A family in the U.K. has one of the country’s smallest funicular railways – a type of cable railway system on an incline – at their home.

From Fox News

Today, the only such manually operated cable railway in the world is, of course, in San Francisco, where 27 single cars propel no trailers.

From Seattle Times

This cable railway was abandoned in the 1970s but recently reopened.

From The Guardian

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023