The labor on railroads before and after the Civil War consisted of many black laborers (mainly slaves, but also free blacks). Slave labor composed the majority of laborers for the North Carolina Railroad Company from 1856 to 1858, as they were favored over white laborers. It was said that “slave labor was the rule on antebellum southern railroads,” mainly because companies had greater control over slave labor than free labor, white or black. The work was executed by both lesser skilled [such as carrier lumber] and skilled laborers [constructed rails].

Enslaved people performed some of the most hazardous positions as well as the more skillful and adept positions. Enslaved people did the work on the train and, at the train station, they were shop hands, firemen, and brakemen. In addition, they were needed to build the bridges that the trains would cross and clear the land for the construction of rails and bridges. 

Most enslaved persons that worked for the railroad were hired out [enslaved person is rented by another-usually for labor] and often for a calendar year. The rate varied, but in the “early 1850s, less skilled slaves brought $75-$100 per year plus their upkeep. Skilled workers are brought up to $250 per year. Some were hired out year after year to some employers.” The price for hiring out slaves continued to increase throughout the 1850s, which prompted some companies to buy slaves in addition to hiring them. 

For the enslaved, the work on the railroad was different from agricultural labor with respect to its type; however, it was similar in many other ways. First, for all hired workers, some jobs came with some perks and others not so much. All in all, the schedule of work was the same. Work lasted between five and six days a week with major holidays off, such as Christmas. Railroad workers, like other hired out workers, were often away from their families. However, railroad managers did allow some home visitations. By contract, managers had to provide enslaved people with food, clothing, and shelter for the year they were hired. 

Enslaved workers labored in almost all weather conditions, and as noted, their jobs varied. Historian Alan Watson wrote about the range in skill and some of the dangers of working on the railroad. He said, “Train, station, and shop hands worked in small numbers and sometimes in less onerous tasks. A few had skilled jobs involving some responsibility and satisfaction.” They also worked as “painters, carpenters, smith, and timers…,” and brakemen, and the most dangerous position was performing the freight service.

Freight services (brakemen) jobs were dangerous for multiple reasons. Brakemen often had to leap between car trains to ‘set the wheel operated brakes at the end of the car.’ They also had the task of joining and unjoining cars. If the cars were not stationary as they were supposed to be, then the brakemen could be “crushed between them.” One Watson noted, “Brakemen appear to have suffered 35% to 50% of all railroad worker injuries and fatalities while constituting only 10% of the workforce.” 

It seems that one of Jacob’s is an example of the dangers of the railroad. Jacob was hired, and his job was to work in the railroad shop, but one day, it seems, he served as a brakeman for the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, and on that day, his ankles and feet were run over by a car. He never recovered from his injuries and soon died. See petition HERE

The enslaved continued to work the railroad well into the Civil War and worked on them well afterward.