gandy dancer

plural gandy dancers · alternative gandy-dancer

1. USidiomaticA railway laborer, especially a member of a crew which carries rails and affixes them to ties.

   Gandy dancer—A section hand or track laborer.

   1929, Vernon W. Saul, “The Vocabulary of Bums”, in American Speech, volume 4, number 5, page 340

   2 more examples

   The oddest gandy-dancer on the railroads in Manitoba during the summer of 1926 was a 6-ft. 4-in. American medical student named Ben Spock.

   1959 May 18, “Bush Teachers”, in Time, retrieved 14 Sep 2008

   In railroad slang, a gandy dancer is a track worker, one who lays or maintains track.

   1981 May 3, Edward C. Burks, “Amtrak Changes on Schedule”, in New York Times, retrieved 11 Jun 2014