A Workers Daily Life
Working Hours
These are the time zones showing that not all places in Canada are the same time
A typical worker on the railroad had to work very hard and there was nothing to look forward to. To begin, every person that helped build the railroad were called navvies. The word comes from the word navigator and was created by the workers themselves. A workers day starts when the sun rises. This time is different depending on where they are working, if they are working in the east the sun will rise four hours earlier than if they are working in the West. They working day ends when the sun sets. The sun also sets four hours earlier in the East than in the West.
Meals and Breaks
Pork/ Beef stew with bread
During the working day there was only three meal breaks. In these meals there is no nutrition value. This caused some workers to become ill of scurvy. Scurvy a disease from lack of vital vitamins. The meals that are most common on the railroad include ham or beef stew, pork and beans, bread, and maple syrup, the drinks usually consist of coffee and tea without milk or sugar. The workers have coffee and tea to drink so the caffeine would let them work harder and longer then if they would not have caffeine. The three breaks in the day are as short as possible so the maximum amount of railroad can be built each day.
Location of Railroad
An extreme avalanche that happened in the mountians
The workers on the railroad had various dangers that they needed to face. In some locations of the railroad there was mountainous terrain that needs to be laced with track. When they were going through mountains they needed to carry logs needed to create a bridge across vast distances. Also, deaths from natural disasters like avalanches and landslides weighing hundreds of pounds falling and crashing on the workers. Other hazards include blackflies and mosquitoes. To conclude, the workers on the railroad work extremely hard and were not properly.