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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. The British equivalents of the term gandy dancer are navvy (from navigator ), originally builders of canals, or inland ...
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.”
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The term "gandy dancer" sprang up to describe section gangs, a group of track workers previously mentioned. These men did everything from laying ties to aligning the rails. The origins of "gandy dancer" are unknown although "gandy" has sometimes thought to have originated from the Gaelic dialect while "dancer" denoted the unified motion workers ...
Jan 22, 2018 · First of all, they were all Irish. Second, they had to fight Indians every step of the way while laying track. Third, they ate and drank themselves to death on meat and potatoes and rotgut whisky instead of eating vegetables and seafood like the Chinese. Fourth, they spent the last of their money in whorehouses.
Sep 27, 2023 · The life of a Gandy Dancer was far from ordinary, as their work often demanded long hours and a nomadic lifestyle. Due to the nature of railroad maintenance and construction, Gandy Dancers would travel from one location to another, following the tracks and ensuring their continuous upkeep.
The Gandy Dancers were a group of retired railway workers who gave railway laying demonstrations to educate the public about the culture surrounding the industry. Based out of Birmingham, Alabama, and led by Cornelius Wright Jr., the Gandy Dancers consisted of John Henry Mealing, Allen Jones, Charlie Vinson and Elder Brown Jr.
Jun 10, 2021 · Baltimore itself was home for many years to the Gandy Dancer, a bar/restaurant at McHenry and S. Carey Sts. in southwest Baltimore. Co-owner Pat Flanagan (pictured below) and colleagues created a place where friends could gather, including Museum Board President Catherine Reinholdt , who provided these photos of Pat, both indoors and outdoors.
