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Odd facts and trivia
backtrack
just the ticket
fast track
derailed
make the grade
get sidetracked
on the wrong track
on the right track
One-track mind
off track
living on the wrong side of the tracks
All of the whistles and bells. The final stage of the railway that travelled 1,907 miles across America was celebrated by fixing the last rail into position with a golden spike.
"The Central Pacific company had thirty locomotives gayly decked ranged on the city front, and at the signal of a gun announcing the driving of the last spike on the road the locomotives opened a chorus of whistles, and all the bells and steam whistles in the city joined." May 10, 1869.
Sabotage - "the practice by striking French railway workers of cutting the sabot [metal shoe] that held railroad tracks in place. The word appears in English in 1910 and early use specifically refers to the French railroad strikers."
whistle stop tour
Letting off steam
popping off
blowing smoke
blowing your stack
tunnel vision
light at the end of the tunnel
keeping/staying on track
end of the line
that's the ticket
chugging along
The railways had a tremendous impact across the world. Many words and phrases we use today can be traced back to a railway origin. Think about if you have heard these said and why. The connections are obvious.
A couple of slightly more obscure ones