trunkline

Encyclopedia Article

Article

A main component of a larger system of long-distance transportation, such as a railroad or a highway. The term also commonly refers to a long pipeline used to transport oil or natural gas. Spurlines branch off the trunkline, connecting smaller depots, towns, or sites of natural resource extraction to the main trunkline, similar to tributaries running into a river.

Photo Credit: 

 
"An AT & SF Railway route map showing the trunkline and its subsidiaries, 1891" issued by the Grain Dealers and Shippers Gazetteer is licensed under Public Domain.

Published Works: 
People of Darkness (1980)
Term Type: 
Human Environment