ride the rails

present singular third person rides the rails · participle present riding the rails · past rode the rails · participle past ridden the rails

1. idiomaticTo travel by railway train, trolley, etc.

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

   1935 May 13, “Gas Man's Trial”, in Time

   2 more examples

   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.

   1956 December 19, Phyllis Battelle, “Poor Commuter's Life Not So Dreadful After All”, in St. Petersburg 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).

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