Raceland Car Shop
I encourage those that are familiar with the Raceland Car Shop to leave a comment in the section at the bottom of this page. My intention is to, in a way, preserve some of the history of this location.
Once an economic hub of huge proportions now lays dormant awaiting resurrection.
Thank you to all the small businesses that opted to be a part of this project.
Buy the song ‘Coals Dark Heart’ produced by me for this video as well as a large panoramic photograph of one section of the car shop - All sales go towards future projects such as this one.
As this project begins to advance into its next stages, one that I hope will be personal stories from folks who worked there, I want to share one that did not make the cut of the video.
It starts like any other day at the Raceland Car Shop with workers going about their daily tasks. One unknown man lost a finger in an accident there and naturally was off work for some time. When he returned he made his way to managements office where compensation talks began. He asked for, if I recall correctly, $25,800, or the out-the-door price of a new Toyota pickup truck (at the time). Management retorted that typically $25,000 is the cutoff. He insisted and they did cut him a check for the amount.
This story is expressed in the song “Coals Dark Heart” - “Fingers lost for a fleeting check, Twenty-five grand for a life’s wreck. Rails roared loud, but jobs would fade, Coal’s cruel game, our hopes betrayed.” It is my presumption that stories like this one were common and that was the reason for the pressing of “Think 0” in an attempt to keep focus on safety.