railroad flat

American  

noun

1. an apartment whose series of narrow rooms forms a more or less straight line.

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Etymology

Origin of railroad flat

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

If you want blinds, he suggested using a bamboo one from Pearl River Mart, which he hung in his first apartment, a small railroad flat in the East Village.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 25, 2018

Her parents, 26-year-old Clifford and 24-year-old Anna, were at their six-room railroad flat on 131 West 116th Street in Harlem.

From The Guardian • May 4, 2017

We see a narrow railroad flat littered with garbage, a stained mattress leaning precariously against a wall and a few pathetic sticks of furniture.

From BusinessWeek • Feb. 3, 2012

Since the late 1970s and up until recently, when he entered the hospital, Mr. Hardy was the host of Monday night workshops at his railroad flat on West Houston Street.

From New York Times • Mar. 13, 2011

The diagram is a layout of a railroad flat.

From "Twelve Angry Men" by Reginald Rose