road-railern.
/ˈrəʊdˌreɪlə/, U.S. /ˈroʊdˌreɪlər/ A vehicle, esp. a goods vehicle, that can run on both road and rail; a container which can be transported by both road and rail.Sometimes denoting an experimental vehicle or system of this sort: cf. Ro-Railer n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > experimental road or rail vehicle
Ro-Railer1931
road-railer1936
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [noun] > running on wheels > which can run on road or rails
Ro-Railer1931
road-railer1936
1936 Times 17 Mar. 58/3 On the road there is little to distinguish this road-railer from the modern type of motorized tower wagon.
1960 London Midland Region Staff News (Brit. Railways) Feb.–Mar. The Roadrailer..is similar in appearance to the normal tractor drawn semi-trailer seen on the roads... [However,] at the rear, there is a special device which retracts the road wheels and lowers a pair of rail wheels.
1964 Economist 15 Aug. 663/3 British Railways' latest ploy to attract traffic from the roads involves..freight wagons which ride the rails for most of the journey and then take to the roads... British Roadrailer Services is being set up as a joint company by British Railways and the Transport Holding Company to develop the use of these roadrailers.
1993 Mod. Railways July 405/2 By ‘combined transport’ I mean intermodal forms of freight, such as containers, swapbodies, Road Railers and piggyback.
2001 Mod. Railways Aug. (Special Report Suppl.) p. xxiii A large fleet of road-railers has been acquired for the WCRM re-electrification project.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1936