CSS Mobile - what iron shortage?

[georgew]

Third times the charm.

Brashear, La. Jan 1, 1862
CS Navy Dept
re CS Gunboat Mobile
To: A.B. Seger
Supt N.O.O.W.R. Road
To: 30,800 lbs rail road iron for ballast @ 2 cts $616.00
rcvd Sheppard
Lt. Commanding

15 tons of RR iron for ballast? This seems to work out to 1466 linear feat of 62-lb/yd T-rail or 3080 linear ft of 1-inch strip rail at 10 lbs/ft. You wonder if they might have done better by using bags of shell for ballast and the iron for protection.

 

[DaveBrt]

Third times the charm.

Brashear, La. Jan 1, 1862
CS Navy Dept
re CS Gunboat Mobile
To: A.B. Seger
Supt N.O.O.W.R. Road
To: 30,800 lbs rail road iron for ballast @ 2 cts $616.00
rcvd Sheppard
Lt. Commanding

15 tons of RR iron for ballast? This seems to work out to 1466 linear feat of 62-lb/yd T-rail or 3080 linear ft of 1-inch strip rail at 10 lbs/ft. You wonder if they might have done better by using bags of shell for ballast and the iron for protection.

15 tons of old, broken, laminated iron would be of little use except as raw iron. The road used 65# T rail. This does not bother me as a RR guy.

 

[rebelatsea]

I'd guess it was totally useless except to be melted down and recast. Better use as ballast.

 

[georgew]

I'd guess it was totally useless except to be melted down and recast. Better use as ballast.

Does this mean that iron of this condition could have been sent to one of the foundries and used for casting artillery or misc?

 

[DaveBrt]

Does this mean that iron of this condition could have been sent to one of the foundries and used for casting artillery or misc?

George,

I've seen many lists of materials on hand at various railroads and all of them included a goodly quantity of old iron. Many roads had their own foundries and made all sorts of railroad, and now ordnance, castings. Those that did not have foundries would usually do work for other roads, provided the desiring road provided the iron, so even non-foundries roads kept their old iron.

There was no reason to not melt the old iron for other purposes and roads did sell their excess old iron. But iron was cheap and transportation was not. Also, transportation was scarce, unless the buyer was willing to provide a messenger to travel with it.

The only movement of old iron, in quantity, that I have seen was strap iron from the Winchester & Potomac RR to Tredegar, B&O RR scrap from late 1861 to Tredegar, and old iron from some eastern North Carolina RRs sent by the Navy to Atlanta for making armor.

Dave

 

[georgew]

George,

I've seen many lists of materials on hand at various railroads and all of them included a goodly quantity of old iron. Many roads had their own foundries and made all sorts of railroad, and now ordnance, castings. Those that did not have foundries would usually do work for other roads, provided the desiring road provided the iron, so even non-foundries roads kept their old iron.

There was no reason to not melt the old iron for other purposes and roads did sell their excess old iron. But iron was cheap and transportation was not. Also, transportation was scarce, unless the buyer was willing to provide a messenger to travel with it.

The only movement of old iron, in quantity, that I have seen was strap iron from the Winchester & Potomac RR to Tredegar, B&O RR scrap from late 1861 to Tredegar, and old iron from some eastern North Carolina RRs sent by the Navy to Atlanta for making armor.

Dave

Thanks Dave!

 

[rebelatsea]

Does this mean that iron of this condition could have been sent to one of the foundries and used for casting artillery or misc?

Georgew,

That depends how "clean" it was in the first place. If it was badly worn rusted and pitted, scrap is about all you could do with it, ideal ballast. You don't want to be introducing impurities into iron that's going to be used for gun casting ,or armour for that matter.