Gandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers in the United States and Canada, 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 navigations—for builders of railway lines, and platelayer for workers employed to inspect and maintain the track.
Gandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers in the United States and Canada, 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 navigations—for builders of railway lines, and platelayer for workers employed to inspect and maintain the track.
Source: Wikipedia "Gandy dancer" · CC BY-SA 4.0
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