In the North, it was mainly good news. Apart from a few unlucky railroads with lines on the border that suffered war damage, the Northern railroads had not only escaped any direct consequences of the war but prospered, thanks to the increase in traffic that always results from conflict. At first, the Northern companies rued the outbreak of the war, fearing it was going to wreck their recovery from the poor economic conditions of the late 1850s. However, they soon realized that war was beneficial for railroads. Use of the railroads in the North soared, boosting income and profits: “Railroads which had suffered a decline in freight and passenger revenues in the three years immediately preceding the outbreak of war, soon found themselves swamped with business, and vied with each other in placing orders for more locomotives and more cars.” According to the American Railroad Journal, 1863 had been “the most prosperous ever known to the American Railways,” and traffic continued to grow throughout the war.1 The four major east-west railroads—the Pennsylvania, the Baltimore & Ohio, the Erie, and the New York Central—did especially well during the conflict.
What do You think about The Great Railroad Revolution?
