Love to see pics of men working on the railroad. We see a lot of machines doing this type of work, but a lot of hard work is done by gandys and crew members of gangs by hand, which is still are needed. As a former gandy on the old Northern Pacific and Burlington Northern, I notice the heavy clothes required to work outside in the winter months, hankerchiefs to wipe away the sweat, steel-toed shoes etc.. Bars and spike hammers were used a lot. We used to hire a Mexican named Domingo during the summers because he had great skill with a spike hammer. The spikes next to these men need driven while working very close to the pulled spikes. Here we would pull the spike, put in a creasote-soaked plug and redrive the spike aligning the rail to the desired position...while it was held in position by the men on the bars. Much work could be dangerous, but these type of men usually loved working outdoors and with hand tools. Fond memories! Great picture Dave!!
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I'm happy that my shots bring back fond memories for you.
Dave.
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