GDG- (no subject)

[elcarto at comcast.net]

<Obviously, the Confederates had a bit of a mess.  The Germans, as they  
invaded the Soviet Union in WW2, laid down their gauge of rail lines as they  
moved into that nation - the two gauges being different - upon existing Soviet  
rail lines.  The Confederates never had that kind of spare rail iron to do  so.

Doesn't really take any sort of spare rail iron - though you might have to replace the ties if going from smaller to longer guage- the Germans didn't that problem, as their standard guage was smaller than the Russians.. The Germans worked with their usual efficiency in changing the gauge as they moved east (You're actually just pulling up rails and moving them a few inches, after all.)  The biggest problem was that Russian engines were designed to work over much longer ranges than the Germans had to deal with in central Europe - the vital supply depots of sand, water and fuel were simply a lot further apart than the Germans were used to, and replacing them a lot more difficult than simply moving rails

Naploeon ran into a similar problem - with the Russians engaging in the same sort of 'scorched earth' retreat, everything had to be brought in from the west.  The problem is, the further east you go, the more of each supply train has to be dedicated to fodder, horse shoes, etc., needed to keep those supply wagons going.  You can keep building supply depots as fast as you can, but sooner or later the law of diminishing returns bites you in the butt!

Rick Barber