marine railway

American  

noun

1. a railway having a rolling cradle for hauling ships out of water onto land and returning them.

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marine railway British  

noun

1. another term for slipway

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Etymology

Origin of marine railway

An Americanism dating back to 1815–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

marine railway

With a 112,000-square-foot facility on eight acres of land, complete with a full-service shipyard and 250-ton marine railway, West Bay delivers from 16 to 18 yachts per year.

From Time Magazine Archive

With 36 conventional locks, two sets of flight locks, a marine railway and two of the world's highest hydraulic lift locks, a cruise here can be a real adventure.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was first intended to construct a small marine railroad and launch the caissons in that manner, rolling them along the skids to the head of the marine railway.

From Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXX, Dec. 1910 Reinforced Concrete Pier Construction by Klapp, Eugene

A power of 250 tons is necessary to start a vessel weighing 3,000 tons over greased slides on a marine railway, when in motion, 150 tons only is required.

From Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889 by Burroughs, Barkham

There was a machine shop at Anacapa on the opposite side of the island and a marine railway large enough to take on the disabled craft.

From El Diablo by Groesbeck, Dan Sayre