Railroad Laborers

A vast labor force was needed during construction of the railroads, and workers from many ethnic groups brought a piece of home with them as they contributed to the growing culture of Boundary County. Hired for low wages, laborers became experts in blasting rock, building tunnels, and grading the rail beds, and they acquired colorful titles such as swampers and powder monkeys. They constructed bridges and trestles across waterways, gullies, and swamps, while tie hacks hewed ties by hand and crews spiked rails to ties. Railroads employed track walkers to inspect two mile sections of rail line for obstructions, and later handcarts and speeders were used. Section crew men called gandy dancers continued to maintain the rail line. In railroad construction camps, dome shaped rock ovens attributed to Italian laborers were built of local rock and chinked with clay for baking bread. These have been mistakenly called Chinese ovens because Chinese crews used similar ovens along other earlier railroads. Fires were built inside until the rocks were sufficiently hot, then the coals were raked out and loaves of dough were placed inside to bake.

Bonners Ferry, Idaho · United States