High school Gandy dancers

[Anonymous]

Anybody out there who worked their high school summers on section gangs in the mid to late 1940's as Gandy Dancers? I was one, working on the NP and Great Northern . . .all positive experiences.

[tatans]

I was too small to work the section gang, had to work the ice gang loading ice in passenger coaches for "air conditioning'' 1000 lb.blocks of ice split 4 ways, I weighed 106 lbs,somehow, I'm still alive.----haven't heard gandy dancer for a while!!!

[Anonymous]

I know what you mean. Every once in a while, we would get a "call" to the Dilworth, MN, ice house to help ice
American Fruit Expresss trains coming through. The ice platform accommodated about 30 cars at a time. Ice was hauled up to the platform via pull-rope elevators. Rock salt was loaded into the bunkers
along with the ice, depending on what was being "refrigerated. " A call meant time and a half for
work. . .

[spbed]

No because I was a kid in the 40s[:D]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jmclaug

Anybody out there who worked their high school summers on section gangs in the mid to late 1940's as Gandy Dancers? I was one, working on the NP and Great Northern . . .all positive experiences.

[Anonymous]

Did you live on a work train or just locally. I saw many work gangs/trains back in thre good days,last saw one a few years ago in Indiana.It was junky of course it was much older than i. LOL

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by foureasy

Did you live on a work train or just locally. I saw many work gangs/trains back in thre good days,last saw one a few years ago in Indiana.It was junky of course it was much older than i. LOL

I worked on the local section gang, but crew gangs came through when the rail was being upgraded from 90 lb rail tot 112 lb rail, geting ready for the diesels. The crew gang had all
the latest tools, pneumatic tampers, spikers, etc. All the members of the crew gangs
were adults. Our local section gang consisted of
one foreman, four straw bosses and twenty-five high school age boys.. .it was a great
experience and started my great interest with trains!!!

[Anonymous]

One of my family members worked the Boston and Maine when he was 14 in that time period. It made him strong.

[Anonymous]

I was 14, but it didn't make me strong, but it did give me a good work ethic. We gave the Roadmaster's Secretary doctored baptismal scertificaes to
satisfy the NP that we were 16. I also worked my 15, 16, 17 summers. . . and the pay
in those day s was good for high schol kids. Sixty cents an hour in 1945 to ninety-two cents an hour in 1948.