ride the rails

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

ride the rails (third-person singular simple present rides the rails, present participle riding the rails, simple past rode the rails, past participle ridden the rails)

1. (idiomatic) To travel by railway train, trolley, etc.
   • 1935 May 13, “Gas Man's Trial”, in Time:

     He had bummed his way around the West riding the rails.

   • 1956 December 19, Phyllis Battelle, “Poor Commuter's Life Not So Dreadful After All”, in St. Petersburg Times, retrieved 11 May 2009:

     Many of New York's most celebrated personalities hitch-hiked here, or rode the rails from wherever it was that they spent their youth dreaming ambitiously.

   • 2004 April 4, Susan Stellin, “J.F.K. by AirTrain: Bag the Bus”, in New York Times, retrieved 11 May 2009:

     There are a number of variables in the trip from Manhattan that you should weigh when deciding whether to ride the rails ($7 to $12), hop a bus ($13) or spring for a taxi (roughly $45, with toll and tip).

Usage notes

• Sometimes used to denote travelling illegally by hiding on railway freight cars, especially as a hobo during the Great Depression.