The Iron Horse
Rails' first beast
The Iron Horse is an old nickname for the railroad locomotive or the railroad itself, evoking the machine that replaced horses for long-distance travel and hauling.
The term captures 19th-century wonder at steam power—an iron beast that never tired.
It also refers to baseball legend Lou Gehrig, whose durability earned him the epithet after playing 2,130 consecutive games.
- locomotiveRailway pulling machine
- railroadPermanent track for trains
- steam engineThermal vapor motor
- steamHeated water's gaseous form
- railroad tracksPaired rails for trains
tracks · train · train whistle · whistle · coal · coal car · engine · steel · wheels · chug · depot · conductor · rails · boiler · smoke · caboose · freight · passenger
The Iron Horseunreliable
Not consistently performing
brittle · delicate · inconsistent · flash in the pan · breakable
The Iron Horseflesh and blood
One's close relatives
mere mortal · mortal · vulnerable · breakable · human
The Iron Horsehorse
Domesticated riding animal
beast of burden · draft horse · pack mule · stagecoach · horse and buggy
iron, horse, irons, ironed, ironing, irony, horses, horsed, horsing