USS ALASKA
Captain
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2016
Reading through the threads on the influence of the TCRR on antebellum events, decided to do some research...
The first actual 'Transcontinental Railroad' had it's eastern end in Omaha, Nebraska/Council Bluffs, Iowa. Connecting into the existing RR network, the next bottleneck was the Mississippi River. Potential logical Mississippi River crossings that had existing eastern connections were Memphis, St. Louis, and Davenport, Iowa into Chicago.
From there, any major Eastern Seaboard deep-water port can be reached. From the north...
Boston
NYC
Philly
Baltimore
Norfolk
Charleston
Savannah
...and Gulf port of NOLA.
Using the maps from Black's 'Railroads of the Confederacy' as posted at @DaveBrt 's website of https://www.csa-railroads.com/, Charleston could link up with Memphis using the 'South Carolina' to Augusta, then the 'Georgia' to Atlanta, the 'Western & Atlantic' to Chattanooga, the 'East Tennessee & Georgia' & 'Memphis & Charleston' to Memphis.
Savannah linked with Chattanooga via either the 'Augusta & Savannah' or the 'Augusta & Savannah', 'Central Railroad (of Georgia)' and 'Macon & Western'.
Norfolk could be linked via the 'Seaboard & Roanoke', 'Norfolk & Petersburg', 'South Side', 'Virginia & Tennessee', 'East Tennessee & Virginia' and 'East Tennessee & Georgia'.
As to which would be the best option, one question I have and don't know the answer to is which over these ports has the easiest access and is the cheapest to maintain? Do any of these ports have 'depth' issues that need constant maintenance? Do any of them have restrictive 'entrance' concerns like sand bars, tidal variations, or limited channel widths?
To my unknowledgeable eye, Norfolk might be the best 'compromise' selection. In the 'South' but close to the 'North', direct access to D.C. and Baltimore, large naval base for defense concerns...
...but politically based decisions, (and this would be one), are rarely based upon logic...
Cheers,
USS ALASKA
The first actual 'Transcontinental Railroad' had it's eastern end in Omaha, Nebraska/Council Bluffs, Iowa. Connecting into the existing RR network, the next bottleneck was the Mississippi River. Potential logical Mississippi River crossings that had existing eastern connections were Memphis, St. Louis, and Davenport, Iowa into Chicago.
From there, any major Eastern Seaboard deep-water port can be reached. From the north...
Boston
NYC
Philly
Baltimore
Norfolk
Charleston
Savannah
...and Gulf port of NOLA.
Using the maps from Black's 'Railroads of the Confederacy' as posted at @DaveBrt 's website of https://www.csa-railroads.com/, Charleston could link up with Memphis using the 'South Carolina' to Augusta, then the 'Georgia' to Atlanta, the 'Western & Atlantic' to Chattanooga, the 'East Tennessee & Georgia' & 'Memphis & Charleston' to Memphis.
Savannah linked with Chattanooga via either the 'Augusta & Savannah' or the 'Augusta & Savannah', 'Central Railroad (of Georgia)' and 'Macon & Western'.
Norfolk could be linked via the 'Seaboard & Roanoke', 'Norfolk & Petersburg', 'South Side', 'Virginia & Tennessee', 'East Tennessee & Virginia' and 'East Tennessee & Georgia'.
As to which would be the best option, one question I have and don't know the answer to is which over these ports has the easiest access and is the cheapest to maintain? Do any of these ports have 'depth' issues that need constant maintenance? Do any of them have restrictive 'entrance' concerns like sand bars, tidal variations, or limited channel widths?
To my unknowledgeable eye, Norfolk might be the best 'compromise' selection. In the 'South' but close to the 'North', direct access to D.C. and Baltimore, large naval base for defense concerns...
...but politically based decisions, (and this would be one), are rarely based upon logic...
Cheers,
USS ALASKA