The bike went over the rough metal of the railroad tracks to the literal other side of town
Велосипед(ист) проехал по грубому металлу железнодорожных рельсов и сразу оказался в неблагополучном районе города.
This is a cultural reference. When someone lives in the bad side of town, we say that they live on “the other side of the tracks.” In this case, the word LITERAL let’s the reader know that they’re referring to this expression. This person crossed “the tracks... THOSE tracks” and found themself in the bad part of town.
Oh, the sentence turns out to be more complicated than it appeared to be! I actually got stuck on the seemingly simple "rough metal".
Велосипед(ист) проехал по грубому металлу железнодорожного пути, оказавшись буквально в неблагополучном районе города.
I think буквально only works if you have the same idiom in Russian (the other side of the tracks). Otherwise maybe something like прямо?
Точно!
Сразу¿
Don’t know - you tell me)))
Thank you for your help! 😊
Anytime!!