Research Questions on Confederate Railroads

Below are listed some specific questions that I would like to answer and areas of research that someone else may have at least party completed that I would like to see for its relevance to Confederate railroads. If you can help with any of the below, please Contact Me.

 
 

Question / Area

 Relevant Documents
1. Why was the Winchester RR rebuilt in the fall of 1861?

I am now convinced, from freight receipts in the Winchester & Potomac RR files that the road was rebuilt to help support the Army in the area and to remove the flour that was produced at Halltown Mills, on the line of the road.

  
2. Are there any records of Maj. Ashe's actions as RR Transportation Superintendent? 

NA, QM 7-18-61
3. Are there any records of the railroad-related production of any of the iron works, other than Tredegar? Daniel, Confederate Cannon Foundries, lists 19 foundries that made cannon and I have seen at least 3 other foundries mentioned that did not make cannon. Any of them could have made railroad supplies or equipment. {Shelby Iron Works records are at the University of Alabama and have been consulted and added to this site.}  
4.  What, if any, equipment did Confederate railroads receive from the 1862 campaign into Maryland? What documents show what was done to and for the railroads during the campaign?   
5. What, if any, equipment did Confederate railroads receive from the 1863 campaign into Maryland and Pennsylvania? What documents show what was done to and for the railroads during the campaign? Three men have been identified as being involved in such actions -- what did they do?

OR Series 1, Vol. 27, Part 3, Page 902

NA, RRB 6-19-63

NA, QM 10-17-63
6. Where are there any records of the Nitre & Mining Bureau? Also the Iron Commission?

OR Series 4, Vol. 2, Page 365

OR Series 4, Vol. 2, Page 393

NA, QM 8-18-63
7. Has anyone written a book or article that covers the corn shortage for Lee's army in late 1863 and in 1864?  
8. Is there any information on the railroads in the Alabama coal fields during the war?  

9.

 Was Sims successful in making the 225 cars he was inquiring after?

LVA, TRED 3-15-64
10. Where did the iron come from to build the South & North Alabama RR when no iron could be found for the Blue Mountain RR?

NA, ENG 9-7A-63
11. With the very limited number of coal cars in the South, how was coal shipped from areas that now had to support industries and cities that had previously used Northern coal? Ex.: North Carolina coal provided to Charleston.  
12. The Wilmington & Manchester RR subscribed $20,000 specie to the Supply Importing Company Association in 1864. What are the details and history of this company? NP, RCF 12-3A-64
13. What machinery and rails were saved during the destruction of the Baltimore & Ohio RR and the Winchester & Potomac RR, in 1862, and the iron removal operations around Warrenton and Fredericksburg in 1863?
14. A newspaper article says that 3 locomotives were captured near Stevenson, Ala. in September, 1862 and were very valuable to the Confederate Army. Which locomotives were they? They may well be Memphis & Charleston RR locomotives that had been captured by the Union earlier. NP, GP 9-18-62
15. The 1863 Virginia & Tennessee RR Annual Report says that a private group in Lynchburg had raised $500,000 to build a rolling mill and it was expected to be completed in less than a year. Who was this group and what success did they have? AR, V&T 7-1-63 P
16. The 1863 Virginia & Tennessee RR Annual Report says that private salt makers on the line of the Salt Works Branch had purchased their own locomotives and wanted to use them on the Branch. Who were these private salt makers and which locomotives did they purchase? AR, V&T 7-1-63 P

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