Railroads in the Civil War

Railroads in the Civil War

The Civil War was the first war that relied on railroads. Railroads helped transport soldiers and supplies quickly over long distances. The North was the first side to realize the importance of railroads. When the South saw the importance of railroads, it was already to late. By the end of the war, the North laid a total of 22,000 miles of railroad and the South only laid 9,500.

Problems with Railroads

Even though railroads were popular, they also had flaws. Fuel was a problem. Trains were fueled on wood, a lot of wood. When a train ran out of wood, workers had to hop out and chop more wood. Another problem with the Southern railroads was that the crew was understaffed. The army made skilled railroad workers join the army. Accidents also happened because telegraph communication was bad. Many crews died cause of head on head crashes, bad bridges and bad rails. Many cross-ties were rotten and and nails were broken. In 1862, a railroad from Nashville to Chattanooga had 1,200 broken rails. The Union also attacked southern railroads and stole equipment.

Accidents like this were common

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