Air-line railroad


An air-line railroad was a railroad that was relatively flat and straight, choosing a shorter route over an easier route. In their heyday, which was prior to aviation, they were often referred to simply as "air lines". For example, a 1903 novel indicates a character's success by noting his position as "superintendent of passenger traffic of the New York and Chicago Air Line", a fictitious railroad.
": Seaboard Air Line Railway advertisement illustrating the "quickest train service via the shortest route" to Florida, 1902.

Dictionary definition

gives the definition "Air line, a straight line; a bee line. Hence Air-line, adj.; as, air-line road."

Satire

Air line railroads began to be built in the mid-nineteenth century; in 1853 the New York Daily Times ran a satirical article mocking the trend, suggesting that the fad for an "air line" name was being used to float dubious investments:

List of air line railroads