Dave Walter of the Brandywine Civil War Roundtable presented our June topic via Zoom on the Southern Railroads contribution to the CSA Civil War efforts.
He spoke of the 3:1 ratio of greater mileage of rail in the north, as well as the 4:1 greater ratio of capital expenditures on railroads in the north.
He explained the different gauges of rail in both north and south, a problem which seemed worse in the CSA.
Gaps between terminus of rail lines within southern cities also were a problem which resulted in rail cars being unloaded, freight taken across a city and then reloaded onto another railroad, if and when more rail cars were available.
To compare, the US Military Railroad built 400 locomotives during the war, while the CSA built one (1).
Jefferson Davis never used his powers over the railroads of the south, even after he was given that power. It was until early in 1865 the southern railroads were nationalized. Too little. Too late.
We thank Dave for his informative presentation!
{As a final aside he noted that the two major railroads currently in Eastern USA (Norfolk Southern and CSX) are both southern.}
