Who had more railroads in the Civil War North or South?
The industrialized Union possessed an enormous advantage over the Confederacy — they had 20,000 miles of railroad track, more than double the Confederacy's 9,000 miles.
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Northern foundries began to experiment with stronger and more durable iron products such as steel. But the southern foundries had difficulty purchasing the necessary supplies for diligent upkeep of their rail lines, and as a result, the infrastructure of southern rail lines gradually crumbled.
The Union had 101,000 factories, while the Confederacy had 21,000 and the Border States had 9,000. The Union had 1.1 million factory workers, while the Confederacy had 111,000 and the Border States had 70,000. The Union had 20,000 miles of railroad compared to 9,000 in the Confederacy and 1,700 in the Border States.
Of this, 21,300 miles (along with 45,000 miles of telegraph wire), or about 70%, was concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest while the Confederacy enjoyed only 9,022 miles (and 5,000 miles of telegraph wire).
Southern railroads west of the Mississippi were isolated, disconnected, and differed widely in gauge. Several of the Northern railroads, in contrast, were complex networks in themselves, and many cities were served by more than one. The fact that most used the same gauge made transfer even easier.