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

It stands on the old Dover Marine railway yards, where more than a million wounded soldiers were brought home from the First World War.

From The New Yorker

“The Sequoia, an elderly and vulnerable wooden yacht, is sitting on an inadequate cradle on an undersized marine railway in a moribund boatyard on the western shore of the Chesapeake, deteriorating and, lately, home to raccoons,” Glasscock noted.

From The Guardian

"The Sequoia, an elderly and vulnerable wooden yacht, is sitting on an inadequate cradle on an undersized marine railway in a moribund boatyard on the western shore of the Chesapeake, deteriorating and, lately, home to raccoons," wrote Delaware judge Sam Glasscock in his Monday ruling.

From Reuters

Drakes Bay was a more protected location, where a 36-foot motorized lifeboat was launched on a long marine railway.

From Seattle Times

“The watermen there worked out of Wormley Creek - and we hauled out their boats,” says Tim Smith, whose family’s nearby marine railway served Slabtown for generations.

From Washington Times