"Hell On Wheels" Origin of the phrase:

[trof]

I'm reading "The Great American Railroad War" by Dennis Drabelle.
It's a fascinating book, about the 'war' between the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads in forging a transcontinental rail line from east to west (or west to east if youn were so inclined and invested).

Greed, corruption, robber barons to the Nth degree.

He tells where the phrase came from and I checked it on wiki.

"The phrase "Hell on Wheels" was originally used to describe the itinerant collection of flimsily assembled gambling houses, dance halls, saloons, and brothels that followed the army of Union Pacific railroad workers westward as they constructed the American transcontinental railroad in the 1860s.

The huge numbers of wage-earning young men working in what was a remote wilderness, far from the constraints of home, proved to be a lucrative opportunity for those with expertise at separating such men from their money.

One early documentation of the term "Hell on Wheels" being used to describe the phenomenon was by Springfield, Massachusetts Republican newspaper editor Samuel Bowles, who also stated the followers were called "hangers-on."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_on_Wheels

Just thought that was interesting.

[niyad]

1. always fascinating to learn where such things originate

[hlthe2b]

2. Yes... I figured that out after watching AMC's "Hell on Wheels" show--great show, btw

It will be back for another season in the Fall.

[russspeakeasy]

3. Same here. And thanks for letting me know it's coming back...

[hlthe2b]

5. I think it almost wasn't. But fortunately, yes.

[monmouth3]

4. I'm glad you stated it would be back. Love, love that show. Good television..n/t

[winter is coming]

6. I never knew that. Thanks for the trivia! n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. I just got Dee Brown's version of the same subject.

Have not read it yet.
Will try to find your author for a comparison.

I love etymology! Thanks...

Book did not happen to tell you where "hell in a handbasket" came from, by any chance?

[dmr]

8. I just ordered the book.

Can't wait to read it.

From Amazon

The notorious Central Pacific Railroad riveted the attention of two great American writers: Ambrose Bierce and Frank Norris. In The Great American Railroad War, Dennis Drabelle tells a classic story of corporate greed vs. the power of the pen. The Central Pacific Railroad accepted US Government loans; but, when the loans fell due, the last surviving founder of the railroad avoided repayment. Bierce, at the behest of his boss William Randolph Hearst, swung into action writing over sixty stinging articles that became a signal achievement in American journalism. Later, Norris focused the first volume of his trilogy, The Octopus, on the freight cars of a thinly disguised version of the Central Pacific. The Great American Railroad War is a lively chapter of US history pitting two of America’s greatest writers against one of A merica’s most powerful corporations.