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Glite Dictionary
rack railway

rack railway

8.1
A railway for steep hills where a gear on the train fits a central toothed rail to climb safely
  • noun
  • /ræk ˈreɪlweɪ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ferrocarril de cremallera
  • The mountain's summit is accessible by a rack railway that winds up the steep slopes.

Examples

  • Tourists marveled at the unique cog mechanism of the rack railway as it climbed higher and higher.

  • The rack railway climbs steep mountains effortlessly.

  • Engineers chose to construct a rack railway to overcome the challenging incline.

  • Have you ever traveled on a rack railway?

  • The tourists enjoyed a scenic ride on the rack railway that ascended the steep mountain.

  • To reach the summit, we took the historic rack railway built over a century ago.

  • The rack railway is essential for transporting goods up the steep hillside to the village.

Synonyms

cog railway
vsrack railway
  • Specialized
6.6

A railway for steep hills where a gear on the train fits into a toothed rail to prevent slipping

is the same technical concept but expressed with the alternative formal name

How Steep

rack railway
  • Specialized
8.1
funicular
  • Specialized
1 8.9
rail
220 1.8

Surface Forms

rack railway singular
rack railways plural

Morphology

rack + railway

The noun-noun compound is compositional: it denotes a type of railway characterized by a 'rack' (a toothed central rail) used for traction, so the modifier directly specifies the railway's construction. Provided a learner knows the constituent senses (including the technical sense of 'rack' as a toothed rail), the overall meaning is predictable and follows common compound formation patterns across languages.

Etymology

Rack railway is named after the machine part called a rack, a bar with teeth that fits a gear on the engine. When the gear locks into the rack, the train can 'climb' very steep hills without slipping, so the name describes a railway that uses this toothed system.