Question: CPRR Construction Camps

Today's Auburn Journal has an article "Summertime is best time to explore Colfax" which states: "Established in 1865 as Camp 20 along the Central Pacific Railroad line, Colfax first was a housing, construction and supply hub for laborers picking and blasting a route up the western slope of the Sierra Nevada."

Is there a list of all of the numbered CPRR construction camps, along with their locations and dates?

Question: gandy dancers?

From: "Jessica Pierce" jessicapier@gmail.com

I'm writing an article on gandy dancers for Alabama Heritage Magazine, and I'm wondering if you can help me out with a bit of research.

While trying to track down the source of the phrase, I came across this page.

This states the belief of Charles Albi, director of the Colorado Railroad Museum, that the term comes from the fact that railroad workers used tools made by the Gandy Manufacturing Company. This is a theory I've seen elsewhere as well, but I have yet to see any proof that such a company actually existed. This lack of proof has often been cited as a reason the term must have originated some other way... but I certainly haven't found an explanation that makes any more sense!

Jessica Pierce