#48: Gandy Dancer
Don’t be fooled by the name – Gandy dancers weren’t some kind of dancers. During the early to mid-1900s in the US, Gandy dancers was the name given to the railroad workers who maintained the tracks. Some speculations say the term Gandy Dancers originated from the constant movement of the workers and the trains.
Even though today this occupation has mostly vanished, since now the maintenance of the railroad tracks is performed by machines, you can still find Gandy dancers here and there along railroad tracks and stations. However, today they aren’t referred to as Gandy dancers, partly because the nature of their work has changed.