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

[shane-mayhem.livejournal.com]

Oh man, Pullman Strike.

Conditions were notoriously bad...what kind of details are you looking for, specifically? I'm reading a great book called Strike about the Labor movement in the 1870's-1890's...I don't have it to hand at the moment, but I'd be happy to inundate you with more detail when I get home. If, of course, someone else hasn't already solved this for you.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Housing arrangements for the men actually building the rail lines is what I specifically need.

[shane-mayhem.livejournal.com]

Often tents or shacks put up hurriedly along the actual railway. Think long barracks somewhat like prison camps. These were often very shoddy construction, I'm not sure what they were made of. I could look that up for you later. I know that at some points along the Western Railway they had what amounts to "tent cities" put up, sort of like shanty towns would later be. There was a lot of fighting, drinking, and gambling, and mostly, they would have to buy everything they needed on credit from the railway company for which they worked. (The same went for more permanent "company towns" which were set up at major railway hubs.) I don't believe that the families of the men ever lived with them in these impermanent settlements, but there are stories about "camp followers..." I'm not sure if these women somehow came with the workers, or came from nearby towns to meet them there...? I'm pulling this from memory at this point, but as I said, Strike is a great book...I'll try to find you more details on it.

[shane-mayhem.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Excerpts!

http://books.google.com/books?id=uoCNcKLzM_sC&dq=Strike!&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=lqDUDR9D_J&sig=eq9ghZL16uogF7wIBVX4TdunnT4&hl=en&ei=nbP8SYKtNpauMbXnkdME&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=13#PPA17,M1