GDG- Re: CSA railroads

[Biggsk at aol.com]

D. Spraggins writes:

>>>>In many history-survey courses the active-duty military  required us to 
endure (continuing professional military education, don'tcha  know), I read 
snippets about transportation infrastructure.  More than  once, it was stated 
that the CSA rail system was at a disadvatange from the  start, because standard 
gauges were not used (as much as in the Union), and  rail routes ran in 
directions optimized for something other than troop  movements or efficient 
logistics.>>>>



Yes and no.  Some states, like Tennessee and Georgia, had a standard 5  foot 
gauge for all of their rail lines as well as through tracks that went  through 
their major cities so that you did not have to get off on one side and  get 
back on another train on the other.  Virginia and North Carolina used  several 
gauges and no through tracks and thus had inferior systems to TN and  GA.  
Black's "Railroads Of The Confederacy," at least in the hardback  editions, comes 
with a big fold-out map of the entire Southern rail system  complete with 
names of the railroads and coding for track gauges.
 
Some states had better systems than others and overall the system was set  
for a farm to market orientation that tied in with the riverboats at a number of 
 spots.  Neither side were building their rail systems in case a war should  
break out.
 
Greg Biggs



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