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Gandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers in the United States, more formally referred to as section hands, who laid and maintained railroad tracks in the years before the work was done by machines.
Jun 6, 2023 · The gandy dancer was a slang term used to describe section gangs, railroad men who performed the physical task of the tracks maintained.
Jan 22, 2018 · The term “gandy dancers” may have come from the odd gait of the tracklayers, who walked in straight lines like a gaggle of ganders (male geese) as they carried the rails to their last resting place on the ties.
Gandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers in the United States, more formally referred to as "section hands", who laid and maintained railroad tracks in the years...
- 3 min
- 1740
- Vintage History
Oct 17, 2023 · Gandy Dancers “Gandy dancers” was a nickname for railroad section gangs in the days before modern mechanized track upkeep. The men were called dancers for their synchronized movements when repairing track under the direction of a lead workman known as the “caller” or “call man.”.
Sep 27, 2023 · Definition of a Gandy Dancer. Who exactly is a Gandy Dancer? To put it simply, a Gandy Dancer refers to the laborers who toiled tirelessly on the railroads, maintaining and constructing tracks in the early days of the industry.
Jan 7, 2008 · Most of these gandy dancers —the label applied to railway line workers who maintained railroad tracks and kept the rails straight—were African Americans who adapted the work call to railroad work.
