rack rail

American  

noun

1. (in an inclined-plane or mountain-climbing railway) a rail between the running rails having cogs or teeth with which cogwheels on the locomotive engage.

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Etymology

Origin of rack rail

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

The old hay rack rail is still there, and ladders to the rafters were kept.

From Architectural Digest

Rack′-rail, a railway having cogs which work into similar cogs on a locomotive; Rack′-rent, an annual rent stretched to the utmost value of the thing rented, exorbitant rent.—v.t. to subject to such rents.—ns.

From Project Gutenberg

Hat′band, the ribbon round a hat, often a mourning-band; Hat′-box, a box in which a hat is carried; Hat′-peg, -rack, -rail, -stand, &c., a contrivance on which hats are hung.—adj.

From Project Gutenberg