railbank

English

Etymology

rail +‎ bank

Noun

railbank (plural railbanks)

1. An embankment adjacent to a railroad track.
   • 1990, United States Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Department of the Interior and Related Agencies, Department of the Interior and related agencies appropriations for, page 590:

     This 200-mile long stretch of railbank property has four encampments of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Verb

railbank (third-person singular simple present railbanks, present participle railbanking, simple past and past participle railbanked)

1. To convert an out-of-use railroad track into a trail for public use.
   • 2004, Joseph P. Schwieterman, When the Railroad Leaves Town, page 223:

     [T]he municipal government moved ahead with plans to railbank the 5-mile segment between Astoria and Tongue Point under the guidelines of the National Trail Systems Act.