Talk:Gandy dancer
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[edit] Term still used today
The term is still used today by railroad workers. My little brother does such a job today, with more modern equipment, but he has used gandy dancer as an e-mail ID and refers to himself as such. 72.205.228.80 (talk) 01:17, 6 January 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Origins
My understanding is that the "Gandy Shovel Company", or any other company named Gandy, didn't really exist, and that this historical tidbit actually arises from a fictional account of the etymology. Can someone find a verifiable record of this company?
Another possible origin: (by Pat T) I came across a reference to the term in a book (probably some 30 years ago) stating it originated with the Irish track crews working on the Transcontinental RR (Central Pacific)- rails that needed to be curved would be set up on their side between a tie at each end; men would stand on the rail to bow it, and as two fellows with sledge hammers (one on each side of the rail) would rhythmically work their way down the rail to pound it into an appropriate arc, each succeeding man on the rail would have to "dance" (jump) out of the way at just the right time, like it was choreographed (to the ringing of hammer on rail). It seems the term stuck to track crews thereafter, regardless of nationality or work at hand, as the rhythm of the mutual efforts remained a necessity. Until I can find the source, again (if possible - it may have been a library book or one I've since parted with), I leave it here as 'conjecture'. Further conjecture as to "gandy": it could be a result of the Irish crew boss's admonition to "get handy" / g' 'andy, dialectically speaking (don't just stand there, be useful!), or might (far less likely) bear some relation to / corruption from being a "dandy" - a womanizing man, as these hard living men could be. 206.231.10.147 15:50, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Other Uses
No disrespect to the Gandy Dancer Restaurant in Ann Arbor, but the term is used in the names of countless businesses across the country. It seems a little strange to feature just one.
- You're right - a quick Goggleing finds lots of Gandy Dancer businesses. I have removed it. - DavidWBrooks 16:13, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Gandy Shovel Company
I have done a lot of research on the term gandy dancer and have never heard of the Chicago based company referred to as the Gandy Shovel Company. It is always referred to as the Gandy Manufacturing Company, or the Gandy Tool Company. Using the following as a source I am going to change "shovel" to "manufacturing".
[QUOTE] The tool was seemingly called a gandy, but where the name came from is a mystery. It would seem it was based on some bit of railway slang now lost to us. The idea that it referred to a Chicago business named the Gandy Manufacturing Company—which supposedly supplied a variety of tools to railway workers—seems to rest on a reference in a book called Railroad Avenue by Freeman H Hubbard, published in 1945. Several people have searched for this business, but have failed to find any trace of it in railway trade journals or Chicago city directories of the period. However, a number of otherwise reputable works continue to give this as the source. [END QUOTE]
Incidently many sources currently state, wrongly it would seem, that the tool was used to tamp the ballast (rock bed) between the ties - a good example of misinformation being quoted and re-quoted till evently accurate information can be forever lost. I feel that this example shows how important the work of Wikipedia is.
Gandydancer 13:20, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Geese
I can give no entomological citations in support of this origin, but there's little doubt in my mind that it's correct. I grew up in East Syracuse, a block and a half from the DeWitt Yards which, in the 1950's, was still one of the largest, busiest and most technologically advanced railyards in the world. As kids, the term gandydancer was no more uncommon or odd to us than busboy was to city kids.
Before pushing the tracks back in at curves, before gandies – which were named for their wielders and not vice versa, before weed removal and other maintenance tasks, a gandydancer was someone who carried the rail sections in and hand positioned them before they were nailed to the ties. Rails are enormously heavy and there's only one way to lift or carry them. A crew of men straddles the rail at rough intervals, reaches down between their feet, grasps the rail, lifts it and carries it thus, bent, with their knees out to the side and their arms between their legs. A crew of men carrying a rail like this looks for all the world like a line of waddling geese. In the early 19th century, these crews were called ganders and laying rail was gander dancing. This was corrupted to gandydancers.
Everyone here knows where the name came from and no one I can find has ever heard of a Gandy Shovel Co. I'll keep looking for any confirming sources. But, I think one look at a crew carrying a rail makes the derivation unmistakable.
[edit] CBS and Charles Kuralt
I distinctly remember a report done by Kuralt about gandy dancers. This would have aired in the late 80's - early 90's. I don't recall however, if it mentioned anything about the name origin. Least that is how I became familiar with the term. --Brad 12:03, 15 November 2007 (UTC)
