| In one respect, railroads are like factories --
both require raw materials and both produce a finished product. In
the railroad's case, many of the raw materials are frequently not
considered when discussing the weaknesses of the Confederate
railroads. Some of these are discussed below: |
| |
| The most obvious requirements for a Confederate
railroad were track, rolling stock and employees. |
| 1. Track required about 100 tons of iron rail and fasters per
mile of road. These required pig iron, mined and smelted in very
dispersed sites (found in Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina
and Texas), iron works to convert the pig iron into the finished
rails, fish plates, spikes and frogs. The creation of rail required
a rolling mill, usually part of an iron works, but possible as a
stand-alone work. The iron required miners, wood cutters and
haulers; the iron works required puddlers, smiths and machinists.
Both mines and iron works required large amounts of unskilled and
semi-skilled labor (mostly slaves) for dozens of jobs. |
| 2. Rolling stock required iron from the iron works (wheels,
axles and fasteners) and sawed lumber. Construction and repair of
cars was usually accomplished by the railroad's own hands in the
company's shops, requiring carpenters, smiths and laborers.
Painters, tinners and leather workers were also required for good
quality cars, though they could be dispensed with for the most basic
cars (flats and gondolas). The Confederacy produced about 400 cars,
was exerting great effort to make another 200, and could have used
several thousand additional cars during the war. The South produced
about 5 locomotives during the war and could have made full use of
another two hundred. Complaints of not being able to obtain
transportation are legion, caused by lack of cars and lack of
locomotives. |
| 3. Trains were run under the direction of a conductor, who was
usually hired into the position on freight trains and was eventually
promoted to passenger trains. The Engineer was a machinist and
completely responsible for the locomotive and tender when not in the
shops. General labor, usually slaves, performed the fireman and
brakemen duties with minimal training and with experience on the
job. |
| |
| Beyond the obvious requirements are the stations,
supplies and shops. |
| 1. Stations were run by a station master and, depending on the
level of business, might include a ticket agent, a freight foreman,
a telegrapher and general labor (almost always slaves) for loading
cars and handling freight. The main station, usually at one end of
the line, included the warehouses and shops for the road. |
| 2. The line of track was maintained by a foreman who, with a
crew of slaves, lived on his section of track and was responsible
for routine work -- replacing ties, clearing the drain ditches along
the road, maintaining ballast and replacing damaged track bars.
Larger jobs, such as repairing bridges, would be run by a foreman
under the Road Master or General Superintendent with help from the
road's construction crew (carpenters, bricklayers and tracklayers). |
| 3. Running supplies (wood and water) were proved on the road.
Water was pumped from wells or streams to tanks for supply to
locomotives. The pumps and tanks were usually at a station or near a
section master's house. Wood was usually provided by contract with
local men who ran gangs of slaves to cut and provide ties and
firewood to wood lots along the road. The wood contractors were not
employees of the railroad and required railroad intervention to
prevent them being conscripted and leaving the road without fire
wood. The contractor's mules also required protection from
government impressment agents. |
| 4. The railroad's shops varied greatly, depending on the age,
length and wealth of the road. Most roads included engine and car
shops for the maintenance and construction of rolling stock. The
essential machinists and smiths were the prized employees, with
skilled heads on the construction crew, the paint shop, the foundry
and other shops as needed, were not far below them. Warehouses
contained large quantities of parts and supplies, eventually
including food for the workmen. Skilled positions were filled by the
apprentice system and outside hiring, with only the Chief Engineer
and Superintendent likely to have formal schooling in their field.
Company headquarters included clerks and what we would call
accountants, all trained on the job. |
| |
| The less obvious requirements for the railroads
were essential supplies not provided by the railroad. |
| 1. Critical to railroad operations were lubricants and oils
of various types. Though there were preferred ones, as the war
progressed, anything that would work was used. These included oil
for the locomotive headlight and grease and oil for the locomotives
and shops. |
| 2. Cargo movement required cotton bale ties and bags,
casks/kegs/barrels/hogsheads/etc and boxes. While the shipper was
responsible for providing the cargo ready to be loaded onto the
cars, the railroad frequently had to deal with failed packaging.
Such was repaired by the railroad to prevent accidents and fire and
was charged to the shipper. Repairs were conducted when the station
work load allowed it, meaning there were delays because of the
failed packaging. Bags were in short supply for most of the war and
quartermasters were required to save and return bags that had been
used to carry corn for horses. Abandoned Union sand bags were
inspected and re-used for Confederate suppliers. |
| 3. Labor to load/unload cars was to be provided by the
shipper, though cotton was not shipped immediately (sometimes being
held for months) and was loaded by the station crew or hired hands.
Station hands loaded/unloaded mixed freight cars, but not cars with
an entire load from one shipper (ie a car of lumber). Station
platforms were built at the level of the car floors, so freight was
easily wheeled, rolled or carried on. |
| |
| Every shortage above rests on several factors, but
all have in common the lack of manpower. Slaves provided much
unskilled labor, but even that pool was limited by the need to build
fortifications and to grow crops. The Southern armies were so short
of manpower that they did not believe they could forego the loss of
mechanics, miners, machinists, and makers of scores of products
essential for the railroads. In effect, the country was too big for
its population -- if the population of Florida and the
Trans-Mississippi had been folded into the main block of states, the
South would have had more hands and fewer requirements -- perhaps a
change enough to satisfy the labor needs. |
| |
| The shortage of almost every item required by the
railroad "factory" made it impossible for the railroads to provide
the level of transportation that the nation and government needed.
Solving any one or two shortages would have made little difference.
The Confederacy needed a whole range of solutions to be able to
fulfill its requirements and no one in the Confederacy had the
vision to address all these needs, and even if someone had such a
vision early enough to get solutions enacted in time to have the
desired effect, no one would have allowed anyone the power and
authority to execute that vision. Especially since such a vision was
needed for the entire Confederate war effort and economy, not just
the railroads. The United States only developed such a full
economy-wide vision with the start of World War 2, and that relied
greatly on the experience of World War 1. |
| Thus, the lack of such a vision and the ability to
carry it out should not be pointed out as a weakness of the
Confederacy, as though they were at fault for not being able to
execute it. Rather, the war was so vast in scope and so rapid
(because of the telegraph and the railroad) that old ways could no
longer keep up with the demands of the war. |
| Whether the Confederacy's accomplishments in the
railroad field of war were as good as could be expected or were below
par can be debated, but I believe the Confederacy could have done
little better than it did, in this field, considering the resources
and knowledge the nascent nation had available. Shortages were
everywhere and only weak band-aides were available to address them. |
| |
| Related pages |
| Confederate
Rolling Stock Inventory |
| Confederate
Rolling Stock Production |
| Substituting Food for
Cotton |