Working on the Railroad

Lamar Perkins worked for the Oregon Short Line. (O.S.L.)

They called the man who laid the track a gandy dancer because of the rhythm the hammer made on the spike.  It took eight to ten men to lay a mile a day.

Lamar worked as a machinist for the railroad.  He worked at the back house and round house to work on the engines.  During the war years, Lamar worked as an inspector.  He disliked that.

One time Lamar’s lunch pail came up missing.  About twenty years later a foreman said, “Lamar, here’s your lunch pail, what’s it doing on that engine over there.” It still had his name on it and someone else had been using it all that time.

When working at the railroad, the round house was the worst place to work.  It was usually smoky and dirty.  Cold in the winter and hot in the summer.  When he worked up in Ashton, they kept the engines running to keep the tracks clear of snow.  To turn the engine around they had a Y in the track.  It took a lot of room and time.

(1929 Elaine and Lamar Perkins, Ashton, ID)

 

(1929 Lamar Perkins)

 

(1945 Mack's Inn, Idaho, North of Ashton, ID)