railroad tracks
Parallel steel beams
Railroad tracks are the parallel steel rails on which trains run, mounted on wooden or concrete crossties.
The phrase often refers to the visible infrastructure crossing roads or running through landscapes: We waited at the railroad tracks for the freight train to pass.
Historically, railroad tracks divided communities by class or race—the expression wrong side of the tracks means the poorer part of town.
- iron horseSlang for steam engine
- clickety-clackRhythmic mechanical noise
- train whistleRail vehicle's horn
- ballastShip stability material
- tiesConnections or neckwear
gandy dancer · trestle · sleepers · train · trackbed · spikes · crossing gate · freight trains · freight yard · locomotive · caboose · boxcar · conductor · platform · junction · rumble · commuter · gravel
- Small-Town Lifegeneral store, town square, front porch, church steeple, water tower
- trainstrains, train, locomotive, locomotives, steam locomotive
- trackstire tracks, tank tracks, bear tracks, paw print, hoof print
- map symbolscompass rose, scale bar, map key, north arrow, symbols
- leading linesconverging lines, vanishing point, diagonals, S-curve, S-curves
- ski techniquesparallel turn, snowplow, carving, stem turn, hockey stop
railroad tracksopen field
Unenclosed outdoor space
wilderness · meadow · grassland · forest floor · desert sand
railroad tracksopen water
Unobstructed body navigable freely
open sea · open road · open sky · airspace · wilderness
track, road, rail, railroad, railing, railway, rails, railroads, monorail