Straight rail

[1] Straight rail, from which other carom games derive, is thought to date to the 18th century, although no exact time of origin is known.

An early mention appears in the March 23, 1881, edition of The New York Times, wherein it is referred to as "the straight rail game.

[3] Skill in the professional game increased mostly through the refinement of gather shots and the development of a variety of "nurse" techniques.

[1][5] At the U.S. straight rail professional tournament held in 1879, Jacob Schaefer Sr. scored 690 points in a single inning at the table.

[6] Although Schaefer was hailed as "the wizard",[7] the repetitive nature of straight rail led to the development of balkline, where the table is divided by balklines into balk spaces 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 cushions as part of the shot.