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"The Gandy Dancers"
Return To Robert West Railroad Art
THE GANDY DANCERS
Pardon Me Boys, Is this the Chattanooga Choo-Choo?
This is the Chattanooga Choo-Choo. We are standing at the base of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1954, looking
due west along the joint 5 or 6 tack mainlines of Louisville & Nashville and Southern railways which run parallel after crossing
each other and running about 4 or 5 miles before going their separate ways in downtown Chattanooga. There is group Gandy Dancers
in the foreground working on the tracks as the trains pass and the Straw Boss is giving the L&N engineer a wave as he looks out
for the overall safety of his crew as they work on the tracks. Gandy dancers are colorful figures, usually African Americans who
work on the tracks and here they are all working in unison as they are signing their little chants, the songs that they used to
coordinate their activities of laying rails in place. The supervisor is holding his hand up and giving instructions and ensuring
the tracks are in perfect alignment as the crew is laying in place a new set of rail. Two trains are in the background, the 4501
Southern Railway steam freight locomotive pulling a freight train and racing the inbound Louisville and Nashville "Big Emma",
probably pulling the Georgian or the Flamingo. These EM or Mikado locomotives were unique because they worked both freight and
passenger assignments and you really don't see many photographs of these particular steam locomotives, so this is especially
significant to have a detailed view of it. The Southern 4501 is now one of the prominent locomotives in the Tennessee Valley
Railroad Museum. Of regional and historical significance also is the famous Lookout Mountain in the background; you can see the
incline going up the side of the mountain as it has been there since the early 1800's as a means of going straight up the
mountainside instead of having to traverse the roads going up lookout mountain. A thunderstorm in the background is leaving
a rainbow in its wake. Robert chose this particular location because it is where the Louisville and Nashville and Southern
Railway, now Norfolk Southern and CSX parallel each other. Robert though it would be appropriate to put the trains together
at this location with the massive backdrop of Lookout Mountain which is a very photogenic location. This is a view that has
never been done before, so Robert thought it was appropriate as a railroad illustrator to combine the gandy dancers and the
locomotive machines to create machines and men in motion with the beautiful backdrop to come up with this unique composition.
Robert is surprised that up until now that no one has done a theme that properly reflects the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, so he has
brought together all of the various elements and created it.
Print Size 23" x 14-1/2"
Image Size 22" x 11"
©2000 Mainline Memories
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