Introduction

The Confederate Railroads have only once been given a detailed examination. "The Railroads of the Confederacy," by Robert Black, is a seventy-year-old look at the entire subject. Though a classic, and the essential starting point in understanding the railroads, Black was unable to cover the entire subject in depth.

February, 24, 2022, CONFEDERATE RAILROADS TURNED 20 YEARS OLD!!

   In order to make the data I was finding on the Confederacy's railroads useful and accessible, I created this web site. The initial site contained some 650 web pages (mostly 4 core pages for each of some 110 railroads), but it was soon evident that I was finding hard-to-locate information, that could be useful for web users, that was not on the web. At that moment, the site began its growth to its present 22,500+ pages.

   I have been contacted by some 30 authors and students for help with their research on some aspect of Confederate railroads during the War. Another 50 or so users have contributed data, maps and photographs for posting and use.

   My research has resulted in my publishing a book on Confederate Railroader Captain Thomas R. Sharp (see ad below) and is supporting my work on a second book, on the Railroad Bureau.

   I have visited every Confederate state's archives and state library; I have spent weeks in the National Archives; and I have visited numerous universities and railroad archive depositories. My work still requires several more weeks in the National Archives and a visit to the Atlanta History Center. And I fully expect unanticipated finds in strange places.

   I hope you find the site useful and enjoyable, and will contribute any material you may have access to so we can all use it.

David L. Bright

     
 

MY FIRST BOOK: Locomotives Up the Turnpike -- The Civil War Career of  Quartermaster Captain Thomas R. Sharp, C. S. A. is now available -- the story of the Haul of a dozen Baltimore & Ohio Railroad locomotives and over one hundred cars up the Virginia Turnpike, from Martinsburg to Strasburg. Captain Sharp established a major locomotive repair facility, acted as Superintendent of the Charlotte & South Carolina Railroad, and filled other significant railroad positions.

  
 
231 pages, 6 color locomotive renderings, 7 custom maps, 27 photographs, index, bibliography, endnotes.

  
 
Order direct from me {here}, $25 post paid in US.
  

With this site, I present the details behind the railroads. Here you will find each railroad, its location and length, its type and size of rail, the number of cars and locomotives it had when the war started, and the names and technical data of each locomotive. I've also provided lists of stations on each road and comments about most Confederate cities, taken from a Confederate railroad guide. I have also posted well over 22,300 transcriptions of the railroad issues-related documents that I continue to find and post.

I have created this site specifically because it is so hard to locate this information -- and I am anxious to hear from any of you who have data or sources to share to make this listing more complete and accurate. I am particularly looking for photographs of Confederate locomotives that I can post.

Most of the important terms are defined in Data Definitions and discussed in the Essays section.

David L. Bright