When the navvies arrived in the area, the moral security of young women was at stake. The navvies were bold and outspoken. They had seen the world. They came with dreams of travel and adventure. The country boys rarely appreciated their presence.

Rough men with snuff under their lip, liqour flasks in their belts, a bandana around their neck, a wide-brimmed hat, and corduroy trousers tucked into their boots. Coarse language, fights, and Saturday binges. That's the traditional image of the navvy. And it's probably not entirely false.

But above all, the navvies' life consisted of hard work, twelve hours a day, six days a week. They moved constantly as the track was completed. In densely populated areas, they stayed at the farms. In rural areas, they lodged in temporary barracks; often quickly assembled sheds, drafty and without amenities. Forty men could stay in the same accommodation. The walls were occupied by bunk beds with spruce branches as mattresses. Vermin was a constant plague.

Food could consist of coal buns and American pork, cooked on the stove, as well as coffee and bread. In larger work sites, the catering was taken care of by a cook.