DCHP-3

train ((2))

[< Cdn F traîne sauvage toboggan; cp. traineau]
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.

1an. — Obs.

in the North and Northwest, a light tobogganlike dog sled into which a single passenger or a load is laced securely, the dog-driver following behind. Also spelled traine.

See: cariole ((n.))(def. 2a and picture),traineau

Quotations

1789
I make traines, bend snow-shoe frames, and with perseverance, I'll perhaps learn to handle the couteau croche.
1801
I sent two men to Portage la Prairie with two trains and four dogs.
1918
A train, or traineau, was a sledge made of a thin board, ten or twelve inches wide, and eight or ten feet long. It was bent up at one end, by which it was dragged on the snow or ice.
1933
These traines were usually drawn by dogs, but at this post horses were used.
1bn.

a number of sled dogs (2 to 20) hitched to a sled or toboggan.

Quotations

1801
Another of my men brought in six young wolves he had found in one hole; they were very tame, and we proposed to keep them for the trains, as they are of the large species.
1820
A Thousand to fifteen hundred livres is no unusual price for a good train, say 3 dogs.
1956
. . . eating nothing but pail candy, he once ran a hundred-mile relay race against four trains of dogs.
1cn. — Hist.

a dog-sled and the dog-team together.

See: dog-train(def. 1)

Quotations

1806
. . . the first trip he made . . . on the snow with trains.
1858
I engaged a half-breed of the name of Cline . . . to organize my trains.
1939
Back in the train age again, Brownie strained in his collar. . . .
2n. — Obs.

a simple wheel-less conveyance originally used by the Indians and made of two poles on which was a platform or net for holding a load, the contrivance being pulled by a dog. [See picture at travois.]

See: travois(def. 1 and picture)

Quotations

1834
. . . seven of 8 [Indians] had been badly wounded which they dragged away on trains to their village.
1859
A dog happened to pass drawing a "train" after the common Indian fashion.