I should probably ask on little details, but....

[rm]

Lives of railway construction workers in America circa 1892/3.
Google is not quite getting me where I need to go.

Got anything?

Yes, fandom people who recognize the year in question, it's for fic.

Comments

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

A trifle earlier, but you might look at books/articles about the building of the Transcontinental in the 1860s. As I recall there was a lot of information about the treatment of the Anglo (mostly Irish) versus Chinese labourers that came with the "by the way we built a huge fuckoff railway". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Transcontinental_Railroad#Laborers is a start.

Also although it was originally a British thing, have a google round about the life of the Navvy. Navvies were imported for American labour once the UK's need died down. Check "gandy dancer" also.

I can poke around Jstor if you like, but won't be able to until Monday. Good luck!

[rm.livejournal.com]

The Navvy stuff was, in fact, the only stuff I could reliably find. I was sort of looking at it going "close enough for fic, right?"

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

It probably is, honestly. In that industry, because Britain was such a trendsetter, most of the management, labour, and technology was imported.

This may be stuff you've found, but -- Photos of American rail workers here:
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award97/codhtml/hawpSubjects269.html

The Pullman Strike was in the 1890s too, but that was construction of rail cars, not the rail itself. Still, it's good reading. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Strike

RESEARCH BOY! *strikes pose*

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yup, Pullman Strike is definitely not what I'm playing with here (this thing definitely is "most inexplicable plot bunny to date" and I'm way too sick to write it today -- I can't think at all.)