rack railway

noun

1. cog railway.

rack railway

noun

1. Also called: cog railway. a steep mountain railway having a middle rail fitted with a rack that engages a pinion on the locomotive to provide traction

Word History and Origins

Origin of rack railway¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

In high season, the rack railway takes thousands of tourists up there every single day, all of them intent on the ultimate shot.

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A rack railway carries tens of thousands of people up to the spot each year.

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Other definite links Sodor's Culdee Fell Railway is a rack railway - so steep that the trains have cogs underneath which catch on a toothed rack running up between the rails for extra grip.

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Here was the very place for a rack railway on some system like Abt's, it seemed to me.

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