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- 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 tracklining tools. The physical movements of these railroad crew members were synchronized by a caller who sang the chants, ensuring safety and pacing while spiritually uplifting the men at their toil.
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By: Adam Burns. The gandy dancer term has blossomed into folklore over the years, celebrated in several songs, books, and other mainstream mediums. Despite its near mythical status it described a once very common job on the railroad, hard labor. During the era before mechanized maintenance, railroads employed armies of workers to keep their ...
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.
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.”
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 · 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. These skilled workers were responsible for the precise alignment of rails, ensuring a smooth and safe passage for locomotives and their precious cargo.
Gandy Dancer Songs: Talk to the students about how the people who did the work of laying railroad tracks were called “Gandy Dancers.” These workers often worked long, hot days. Rhythm was necessary both to synchronize the manual labor, and to maintain the moral of the workers. The Gandy Dancers often sang to keep rhythm.
