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- Before railroad work was completely mechanized in the 1950s, railroad calls were an everyday part of the track worker’s ritual. 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.
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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.”
Though all gandy dancers sang railroad songs, it may be that black gandy dancers, with a long tradition of using song to coordinate work, were unique in their use of task-related work chants. Rhythm was necessary both to synchronize the manual labor, and to maintain the morale of workers.
Jun 6, 2023 · A Brief History. Since the railroad industry took its first uncertain steps during the 1820's, leading to the Baltimore & Ohio's chartering in 1827, virtually all track maintenance was performed by manual labor for the next century.
Jan 22, 2018 · Fifth, they blew rival Chinese to pieces with blasting powder out of envy. Sixth, they built the Union Pacific half of the first transcontinental railroad, arguably the single most significant construction project in American history. Only the last statement above is strictly true.
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. The term is said to be from the dance-like movements of the spikedriver, plus the name of Chicago-based Gandy Manufacturing Company, who supplied ...
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This depiction of an early railroad worker, then-called "gandy dancers", was created by the artist to honor Irish immigrant laborers who contributed so greatly to the western expansion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. The figure shown balances on two railroad ties while holding a segment of track.
Feb 26, 2018 · Railroad songs were a genre created by laborers for the railroads in America. The origin of the genre is disputed and rather mysterious. We can all recall “I’ve been Working on the Railroad” (pre Civil War), but it is unclear if that is one example of the genres earliest pieces.
