The Gandy Dancer

 

It is always a bonus when I learn something new when visiting a location. I came across this statue after lunch at Dara Thai. I wanted to check out the Flagstaff Train Station when I came across it. The statue is of a railroad worker before the turn of the century, hammering a spike for laying down railroad rails.

The workers were known as “Gandy Dancers.” According to the sign at the statue, the rail workers had to move together because one worker could not move the rail alone. The movement resembled a dance while they also sang to time their movement. The Gandy part is said to come from the name of the company that manufactured the tools used on the railroad.  Always good to learn something new.

Directions: located at the corner of Old Route 66 and San Fransisco st., next to the Flagstaff train station

 

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