Great little history bit. Love that stuff.
“After the war, Knoxville businessman Charles McClung McGhee (1828–1907) and several other investors formed a syndicate which purchased both the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad and the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad. In 1869, the two lines were consolidated to form the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad, with Thomas Calloway as president, and McGhee and Richard T. Wilson as agents. As a nexus between northern financiers and local interests, McGhee was able to obtain for the ETV&G large amounts of capital, and the new company rapidly expanded.[2]”
One aspect of post Civil War that gets little mention is that Yankees bought up everything at rock-bottom prices. Abd had better places to reinvest their profits.
It wasn’t until WW2 that the South recovered from the war.
Wiping out the economic base for millions of people tend to leave the survivors in a very poor financial condition.
The entire thing was a massive power grab for money and control.