What's meaning of this sentence?
I'm reading an article about drawbacks of early train travel.
I don't understand the sentence in it.

"Travel at night was tricky, because trains lacked effective methods of illumination.
Ride on early train were often rough, because of the way the trains were laid"

What do ''rough" and "laid" mean?

Thank you :)Hi Tom,
Oops it's my bad. It's '' the train tracks were laid."
But I totally understood the meaning because of your example.
Thank you so much!

Question

What's meaning of this sentence?
I'm reading an article about drawbacks of early train travel.
I don't understand the sentence in it.

"Travel at night was tricky, because trains lacked effective methods of illumination.
Ride on early train were often rough, because of the way the trains were laid"

What do ''rough" and "laid" mean?

Thank you :)Hi Tom,
Oops it's my bad. It's '' the train tracks were laid."
But I totally understood the meaning because of your example.
Thank you so much!

Answer

The "drawback" of early train travel mean the "difficulties" of early train travel.  "Laid" refers to how the  train tracks were placed on the ground. "Rough" refers to a uncomfortable ride because the train tracks were a new design and probably not designed for a comfortable ride.

Answer

Does it read ‘the trains were laid’ or ‘the tracks were laid’? If it’s the latter then it would mean that the ride was rough, i.e. jarring and uncomfortable, as the train was riding on unevenly laid tracks.

Answers · 3

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