|
Employment Patterns at Various Confederate Railroads |
| Charts showing employment patterns at a
railroad give an insight into the importance of the railroad and the
traffic level it is handling. The Richmond & Danville Railroad
shows this clearly. In 1861, it was a railroad of modest value to the
war effort, but with enormous potential if the connection with the North Carolina Railroad
could be made at Greensboro. R&D employment rose slightly until the
connection, the Piedmont Railroad, was
completed in the summer of 1864. By then, the R&D was the sole
remaining link for Richmond and the Army of Northern Virginia to the
rest of the Confederacy. Nine locomotives and two dozen cars were
leased from other roads to carry the increased, vital traffic.
Employment in late 1864 shows a road with more than double the employees
of 1861, despite drastic conscription.
Atlantic & North Carolina Employees Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railroad Employees Houston & Texas Central Railroad Employees Memphis & Ohio Railroad Employees Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Employees Richmond & Danville Railroad Employees Richmond & Petersburg Railroad Employees Virginia & Tennessee Railroad Employees |