run (one) out of town on a rail

1. obsolete To force one to straddle a fence rail held aloft by members of an extrajudicial mob, then carried to the edge of town and dumped outside of its limits. I sat atop the roof of the saloon watching them run that no-good shyster out of town on a rail. He looked a right fool bouncing along like that after trying to hoodwink so many decent people.

2. By extension, to force one to leave some place through public pressure or aggression, usually due to their indiscretions or misdeeds. Used especially in passive constructions. Now that this scandal is public knowledge, the people of this state are going to run the governor out of town on a rail. When people found out that my grandmother was having an affair while my grandfather was fighting in the war, she was run out of town on a rail.