Civil War Technology-- Part 6: All About Railroads

**  At the beginning of the war, the Confederacy had 1/3 of the rolling freight, 1/5 of the locomotives and 1/10 of the telegraph stations.

**  Neither the Union or Confederate railroads were ready for war.

**  Rails at the time were made of iron, not steel.  This caused frequent derailments.

**  The Wilmington & Weldon Railroad was one of the longest continuous ones in the country.

**  A major problem facing war railroads was the differing gauges of railroad tracks (how far apart they were).  In 1986, the U.S. adopted a standard railroad gauge.

**  Gauge was based on the standard distance that Roman chariot wheels were apart.

**  Then, there were Sherman's Neckties.

--Old Secesh