henkster:
"The south generally lacked strategic east-west railroads suficient to shift forces and war materiel between theaters." Especially as the war dragged on, year after year, with the Confederacy's lack of industrial capacity to produce more rail, engines & other equipment, to make up for both war losses and normal wear & tear.
But I suspect the real problem, from the beginning, was a lack of strategic vision of how to use their interior lines to move men & materials from one battle-front to another.
It's one of those great Civil War "what ifs".
henkster: "I’d also like to see a railroad map for 1865."
For the Confederacy, it would be the same as 1860, less damages brought by war.
Especially as the war dragged on, year after year, with the Confederacy's lack of industrial capacity to produce more rail, engines & other equipment, to make up for both war losses and normal wear & tear. Substitute "Japan" for "the Confederacy" and "merchant shipping" for "rail, engines and other equipment" and you've described World War 2 in the Pacific.
By the way, great resources submitted by everybody. It's good to have the band back together.