the progressive nudging of the object balls down a rail, keeping them close together and positioned at the end of each stroke in the same or near the same configuration such that the nurse can be replicated again and again. At the U.S. straight rail professional tournament held in 1879, Jacob Schaefer Sr. scored 690 points in a single at the table. With the balls barely moving and repetitively hit, there was little for the fans to watch. Although Schaefer was hailed as "the wizard", the repetitive nature of straight rail led to the development of balkline, where the table is divided by into where only a certain number of points can be scored before the balls must be driven away, and one-cushion billiards, where the cue ball must contact one of the as part of the shot. Today, straight rail play is relatively uncommon in the U.S. but retains popularity in Europe, where it is often played as a practice game for both balkline and three-cushion billiards, a development of one-cushion that has become the most prominent professional carom billiards game. Additionally, Europe hosts professional competitions known as pentathlons in which straight rail is featured as one of five carom billiards disciplines at which players compete, the other four being 47.1 balkline, one-cushion billiards, 71.2 balkline, and three-cushion billiards. References External links Animation showing the "rail nurse" with a description. Animation showing the "chuck nurse" with a description. Carom billiards