What is "inline"

1923 of printing, 1929 of engines, 1958 of computers, by 1989 of roller skates; from in + line (n.).

1. (alternative spelling of in-line English) v

2. (context transitive computing English) To optimize using in-line expansion.

Inline is commonly used to mean "in a line", "aligned" or "placed within a line or sequence". Topics that feature "inline" in their names include:

• Inline citation
• Inline engine
• Inline hockey
• Inline skating

In the model car hobby, an inline car is a type of slot car or other motorized model car in which the motor shaft runs lengthwise down the chassis, perpendicular to the driven axle (usually the rear). Power is transmitted through a pinion to a crown gear on the axle, or through bevel gears.

The word also refers to the longitudinally-mounted motor or the motor arrangement of such a car.

Of the main motor arrangements for slot cars, the inline is the most common type.

Schematic diagrams of common chassis layouts. The vertical-shaft Pancake motor is seen end-on, with the shaft pointing toward the reader.

The inline motor has been powering cars since the earliest days of the slot car hobby, when individual craftsmen in the mid-1950s were installing small model railroad motors into converted static models or handbuilt bodies to race on the first club tracks. In 1957, Scalextric, one of the first two commercial lines of modern-style slot cars and track, used inline motors to power its pioneering cars.