This works: map.connect ''/bananas/pdf/file/:id.pdf'', :controller => ''bananas'', :action => ''pdf'' This doesn''t work: map.connect ''/bananas/pdf/file_:id.pdf'', :controller => ''bananas'', :action => ''pdf'' So once I change the slash to underscore the route doesn''t work the way I expect it to. Is there some way I need to escape the routes to make them work (Rails 2.1.2)?