Vicksburg section crew: calling and lining track (1978) 

used to? still does...

Each man putting ~100 lbs on a pole and that force loaded 4' down - a LOT of torque with 8 men doing it.

Ok you got your accolades in making your aesthetic point about a teachable moment for the children. If you listened to the brother, he tells you the song was basically used for rhythm in order to coordinate their efforts to align the tracks. This method was used by both black and white men to do a job not a JOY. Those men worked out in the hot damn sun in the 19th and 20th century usually run by ruthless bosses. Tell your kids that and not whitewash it. I'm sure if they could have found other work, they would have taken that route. Alot of them were brought up in segregated and gross conditions and working on the railroad provided a man with a 5th grade education good money, but the working conditions were deplorable. Tell your kids that and don't patronize this video as a moment to teach hard work. This crap isn't FUN and they don't do this anymore. The guys in this video are retired and were brought together to show people how it was

Montessori teacher who probably like to feel like you are qualified to teach children obviously you are not.children will take your lessons and screw up this world sad

Emotional Damage 👁🫦👁

Umm.. did you actually listen to what they said at 5:30?

That's pretty cool .

This video came after We Will Rock You.

wrlord The song came waaaay before the video...

I mean, it’s very doubtful Queen knew an African American track lining song, but the fact that they came up with the same rhythm is a testament to the fundamentally African American history of rock n roll.

@@thwackmybonobo Only by a year.

They weren't paid that well. They knew how to survive with less. I got hired 2 years after this video was filmed February 1980 at 19 years old for the same railroad Illinois Central which later became Illinois Central Gulf. Although machines were available for more extensive maintenance projects, these Men worked on what's known as a Section Gang. Due to the variation of their day-to-day assignment, and probable in accessible repair location, they didn't have access to machinery that scheduled maintenance projects would have had. Now back to the pay. I was hired at $8.88 per hour in 1980 in Memphis, TN but worked in Greenwood, MS without any per diem. Therefore, I had to take care of me away from home, and my family in Memphis. I'd work 2 months then get cut off (laid off) for 2 -8 months. I'd return to work for 3 - 4 months and get cut off for 8 months. I could certainly plan to get cut off before July 1st because that's when the "June Card" (retirement statement) was issued. I'd be off until early spring of the next year. I worked a total of maybe one year over a two year span of remaining hopeful to work consistently. My final cut off was in April 1982 and Illinois Central Gulf never called me back to work. My seniority was abolished after 5 years of being cut off in April 1987. "Cut off" is a railroad term for layoffs. I also got "bumped" which is a term used when a senior worker takes your position when they've been displaced for various reasons. I had bidded on a position closer to Memphis, and received an award for the position but was "bumped" before my date to report to work. The people that earned the highest pay were in management or Trainman. Trainmen usually were away from home a lot, and as they would say raised multiple families. It's not glamorous. Deceivingly prestigious at best. These men were exposed to all types of carcinogens both on the ground, and on the train. The ground was contaminated with unregulated chemicals, and the locomotives were insulated with asbestos. These men probably suffered, and died from cancer. The trainmen were treated like gods. But these men weren't until there was main line derailment was repaired. During the repair being done, I'm sure they were demoralized just short of a whip.

No oppression here.

@@lifuranph.d.9440 clearly you didn't watch the video, the man said there was no joy in the singing.

@@Executnr I listened to the Video. My reply was subjective.

Work is not oppression man.

@@thomasschultz7770 in times like these, these dudes were definately oppressed. Especially considering videos like these are taken from the deep South. I know it's hard for you to believe but America has a dark history of treating some of its hardest working citizens like garbage. Yes it's in the past, but don't deny that oppression in this video did not exist.

yeah only they were treated like slaves especially if you were black, chinese, mexican

Shortly after this video was recorded, I was hired by what was known as Illinois Central Gulf after the merger with Gulf Mobil and Ohio. I work in the same department known as Maintenance of Way in the Delta Division where these Men worked. Greenville and Greenwood were near the southern most part of the Delta Division just north of the Mississippi Division that began at Egypt Mississippi. These Men were known collectively as a Section Gang which maintained a certain area / section of track, walkways, switches, and right of ways. Hence the department, Maintenance of Way wasn't exclusively track repair.

Pondr - really you believe that?... Voter suppression laws being passed in red states as we speak, 2021

Well, not the pyramids at that point. Granted all people stem from the same ancestors and we were all black at one point but we adapted to the areas we lived in. So the first settlers in what is now Egypt would have been black. By the time the pyramids were primarily being built people in the area were browner. At least that's what we know so far, although there were people who were black from other parts of Africa in Egypt at the time. Some were depicted on the walls, they had massive trade routes too so all the people coming and going.

Haha.

Right, people who couldn't farm or domesticate livestock built the pyramids. Makes grade A sense to me bro.

​@@ZeeNasteeYou couldn't be more wrong lol

@@christmasdenier You hate science, I get it.

I think he genuinely didn’t understand but what do I know

The foreman was eyeing the line. You heard him yell half an inch to the right.

Doing nothing as usual!

If you'll notice when the Men move to next spot to be aligned, one man has his bar dragging on the rail. This is known as marking the rail. The white man / foreman is straddling the rail and looking at the bar marking the rail. When the marking bar reaches point that needs alignment, that's where they stop. They either continue to move the track in the same direction or he'll say "change your mind" to go in the opposite direction.

The same as the black dude get the work done and get out

He is in the foreground for about 30 seconds or less out of a nearly 8 minute video, and yet you found that worth mentioning. I'd be lying if I said that's not pathetic.

And, yes, I agree with the first two words. I've seen it before and have thought of it many times since. It's good to see it here again, but I certainly didn't expect anyone to be so petty and contemptible in the comment section.

@@Vingul Petty? Says the guy who got it his stopwatch. 🙄😂✌️

​@@CurtisBooksMusic I did not. I made a simple estimation while watching the parts that include the foreman to try and figure out what could possibly have induced you to make that comment.

@@Vingul> "what could possibly have induced you to make that comment." >Soy.