Ray Grensten

Ray Grensten was a section hand (gandydancer) who worked on the CM&St.P Railroad from 1924 to 1968. He began his career on a branch line section which ran from Lewistown to Winnett, Montana and, as he states “One hundred and forty-five miles west and forty-four years and four months later” he retired. This book is a summary of his work experiences both on and off the job. It is divided into 12 chapters and each chapter is roughly delineated by his changes in work location on the railroad.

The writing style is rambling conversational in nature and the focus of the narrative will move from historical fact, to interesting side comment about a person or brief event, to some fact about some aspect of work, to the description of a tough problem and its resolution, to another side comment about something else. A rambling discourse can be irritating however it doesn't have to be and in this case it isn’t. By telling the story in this manner the author provides the reader with a very detailed, informative, and entertaining description of all of the things – people, practices, tools, and institutions, involved in maintaining the tracks of the iron horse.

As the author states “On the section we have a wide variety of work, more so than any other craft of employees on the railroad…A farmer, Amos Charboneau, came to work with us on the section, and after working for several weeks said, “I didn’t know a fellow could do so many things with a pick and shovel.”…until reading this book neither did I. I think this is a fine account of working on the railroad. (See Common Knowledge for examples of the author's writing style). 10 illustrations, Text length - 122 pages, Total length - 132 pages.… (altro)