Likewise, the Confederacy used railroad men to ensure the government got what it needed from the railroads. All three of the heads of the Railroad Bureau were railroad men -- one was President of the Wilmington & Weldon RR and had a politician's background, the next was a railroad president and builder for his whole life, and the last had been in the administration of the Central (of Georgia) RR and owner and editor of a Savannah newspaper.
The next level down in the Confederate organization -- the men who actually did the work -- were railroad men anywhere from engineer/mechanic up to Superintendent of the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville and Presidents of the Atlantic & North Carolina RR and of the Memphis & Charleston RR.
The Confederacy controlled their railroads by indirect methods -- withholding details of needed skilled workers, withholding iron production for wheels and other items, setting the rates of reimbursement for services, and by having Quartermasters or Transportation Agents at important points working to ensure that the government freight got top priority in space allocation.
With only a few exceptions, the railroads were always run by their own employees and officers. Even in the exceptions (East Tennessee & Virginia RR and Charlotte & South Carolina RR), the roads hired the government men to run their operations for a period of time.