Re: Making a living on the narrow gauge

It would be interesting (at least to me) to see more preservation of the stories of how old time railroaders made a living. I caught the tail end of it, before a combination of FRA, re-negotiated union agreements, and OSHA started changing things (largely for the better). The good news I suppose is railroad jobs paid relatively well, and at their best offered working class folks a middle class lifestyle. But it could also be a unsettled lifestyle with long irregular hours and frequent moves. There were a lot of "boomers" who moved around. The living conditions could be rough with primitive living conditions and terrible food. We document the hardware down to the individual rivets, but what about the men (few women in those days) and their families who worked with the hardware.

JBWX



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2018 01:17PM by John West.