American Civil War Tracks

K

Konni

New member
Hi,

I just came across a book describing the role of railways and cavalry on mobility of armies during the civil war in the US.

The author states, that at that time, many tracks in the South consisted of cast iron tracks with inverted U-profile laid on longitudinal wooden sleepers.

I am willing to believe the inverted U-profile and the longitudinal sleepers, as they represented a practice introduced by I.Brunel in the 1830ies, which was, however on the decline during civil war time.
I am, however, puzzled by the cast iron. To my knowledge, the use of rolled, wrought iron rails since the 1820ies was a condition for sucessful use of steam locomotives.

Does anybody know about the design of tracks during the civil war era?

Cheers,

Konni
 
Konni,

From what I understand, the Southern states wore then out, tore them up for use as armour plating (see CSN Merrimack) - then discovered that they didn't have replacements, so took to using whatever was available....

I suspect that the Northern states didn't have quite the same problems having a larger industrial base - but I don't think anyone actually designed rail tracks etc diuring that period.

Regards,

Colin
 
The southern states didn't have a specific type of rail they used. You have to remember, there wasn't a "standard" gauge down here, with many gauges floating around. Five foot was the most common though.

Typically, railroads in the south used "Strap Iron" rail. Basically wooden sleepers laid lengthwise with a "strap" of iron nailed to the top of it for wear. It was quick, and very cheap, and most commonly used.

That's not to say "I" type rail wasn't used, it was. However it wasn't without problems itself. For one it was expensive and a bit hard to come by (especially during the war), and for another many railroads were hastily built on shoestring budgets.

As to the cast iron, that sounds about right. You have to remember, at the time the South wasn't too technologically advanced. Most of your iron foundries and works were located in the north, with a few casting places in the south in Richmond, Atlanta, Birmingham, and I think Jackson. Casting was easier, as well as cheaper. However it didn't hurt that many of the northern states (and companies) refused to ship the needed machines south to allow them to make wrought iron. The reasoning being simple. Why give your customer the ability to make the item that you're selling to them?
 
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Hi,

But they were always of rolled wrought iron, weren't they? What stuck in my throat is the claim about cast iron rails in the book.

I know about strap iron track. They had been propagated in Germany by F. List and were actually tried at the Dresden-Leipzig-Railway in the 1830ies.

It seems tracks in the Southern States during the Civil War were decades behind in technological development.

Cheers,

Konni
 
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Konni, the simple truth is that the Southern States were very behind in technology. There were a number of reasons for this, but (without getting into a huge civil war discussion) the main one was economic. The south was a largely agricultural society, with cotton and other crops being the major money makers. Furthermore it was largely Rural, with many of the largest cities having less than thirty thousand people. However the north was industrialized heavily and made much of its money off of produced goods. So, it was easier for the north to use wrought iron, but the south still needed to use cast, since cast was easier to produce and cheaper.
 
Hi,

What I am after ist the question, whether cast iron rails were practical at all. One of the reasons why Trevithick's early locomotives failed in 1808, was that the cast iron tracks then in use on english tramways, suffered brakage too often because of the brittleness of cast iron.

It was not until Birkinshaw invented the rolled wrought iron rail in 1820, that steam locomotives came into their own. At least that is the opinion of most railway historians.

I am therfore wondering, whether railroad tracks in America, which had been built after 1828 had ever been fitted with cast iron rails. After all, the US developed quickly into a leader in railway technology, not only for rolling stock but for other aspects of railway technology too.

The modern railway rail e.g. was invented in the USduring the early 1830ies, from where it was introduced into Europe by C. Vignoles. From the early 1850ies on this type of rail laid on wooden sleepers was standard e.g. in Germany.

From this background I am wondering about reports claiming the use of cast iron rails a full decade later.

Cheers,

Konni
 
Well, depending on how you cast the iron, as well as what type of iron you use (yes, there's different kinds) it's possible. I'll talk to a history prof I know about it, see what he says.
 
Here's what i have been told:

The only reason that Cast Iron would still be in use then was speed of production. Cast iron can be pumped out a lot faster than wrought can. Cast was common in the US until regulations ruled it out. At the time, rails were short (very short, in some cases less than 1 m long) and heavy. Thing is, cast isn't bad when you have it in a large object such as a rail, since it's very strong when in compression. (under pressure.) Cast stayed in use into the 20th century in fact, being used in portions of some railroad bridges. However most of that is now gone.

From what I can tell, cast fell out of use very shortly after the civil war.
 
Hi,

I have been aware, that cast iron was the preferred building material for machine parts between the mid 18th century well into the second half of the 19th century. It is still used for pipes, valves and taps, foundations of machines etc.

The resume of our discussion is then, that there were cast iron rails in use with railroads in the South as late as the civil war era.

Cheers,

Konni
 
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