gandy-dancer
Railroad track worker
A gandy-dancer is a railroad worker who lays and maintains track, particularly one who does the manual labor of tamping ballast, aligning rails, and driving spikes.
The term dates from the era when track work was done by hand rather than machine: His grandfather worked as a gandy-dancer on the Southern Pacific.
The word is now mostly historical, occasionally used nostalgically for railroad laborers generally.
Permanent track for trains
- trackmanRailroad maintenance worker
- maintenancePreserving working condition
- spikeSharp rise or point
- tampingCompacting by repeated pressure
rail · tie · ballast · crew · foreman · laborer · roadbed · alignment
Repetitive rhythmic phrase
- cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
- synchronizationAligning timing across systems
- coordinatedArranged to work together
- swingSuspended recreational seat
hammer · call-and-response · tempo · beat · shanty · rhythm · unison · timing
railroad
Permanent track for trains
- trackmanRailroad maintenance worker
- maintenancePreserving working condition
- spikeSharp rise or point
tamping · rail · tie · ballast · crew · foreman · laborer · roadbed · alignment · gauge
chant
Repetitive rhythmic phrase
- cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
- synchronizationAligning timing across systems
- coordinatedArranged to work together
swing · hammer · call-and-response · tempo · beat · shanty · rhythm · unison · timing · repetition
nineteenth-century
The years 1801-1900
Italian · migrant · camp · bunkhouse · boarding · pre-mechanization · expansion · transcontinental · frontier · westward
gandy-dancerlocomotive engineer
Drives the train
railroad executive · railroad baron · station master · railroad tycoon · Cornelius Vanderbilt
gandy-danceroffice worker
Indoor professional employee
white-collar worker · desk jockey · executive · pencil pusher · manager