le petit-train - What is the English translation? English translators help general English translators with the translation of le petit-train

Conges terminology question

134 months ago

tigkit asked this question:

Language pair:	French > English
Subject:	General
Level of diffculty:	Difficult / demanding
Word or term in question:	le petit-train
Context:	La visite en petit-train vous convie à feuilleter quelques pages d’histoires : celles de la Guadeloupe et de la famille Marsolle, l’une des plus anciennes de l’île.
Keywords:	Petit-train à l’arrêt

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Answers on this question

134 months ago

Prabir Mudaliar wrote:

small train

My comment:

I know this sounds like a simplistic and direct translation, but I found the following on Fodor's travel:
"At this historic rum distillery, a small train crosses the plantation at 9:30, 10:45, and 11:30 am and again at 2:30 and 3:45 pm from Sunday to Friday....."
Sometimes, such trains are also called "toy trains".

My references:

http://www.fodors.com/world/caribbean/guadeloupe/things-to-do/sights/reviews/domaine-de-severin-585874/

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134 months ago

Charles Ferguson wrote:

leisurely / at one's own pace

My comment:

I wonder if this is an idiomatic expression where "train" means "allure" or pace. Is there an actual rail service involved in the context? Or is the text suggesting a figurative use of the "petit train"?

My references:

Collins Robert French Dictionary.

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Comments by other colleagues on this answer:

134 months ago

martynback wrote:

No, it's talking about the min-train that takes visitors around the estate of a distillery in the West Indies.

134 months ago

martynback wrote:

mini train

My comment:

Not necessarily on rails! They're generally just carriages on wheels pulled along the street by a fake locomotive. There's one where I live.