Civil War Images

FYI: There is a current exhibit at the Met which has original photo prints and some very interesting paintings.

The Civil War and American Art

http://www.metmuseum.org/exhib...tm_campaign=civilwar

I suspect that mortar is a Union army item. The south didn't have an abundance of foundries that could turn out such items. Can't tell from the clothing of the artillery either. Thus, it's probably standard gauge, as the USMRR would regauge any Confederate RR's that were captured---so that the supplies could reach the front lines.

technically, there was not a 'standard' gauge (or gauge standard) in this country until President Lincoln set it, after the Civil War.

The northeast RR's were, with the exception of the Erie, all 4' 8'1/2". Most southern RR's were 5 ft gauge.  Congress in 1863 decreed that the trancontinental RR would be 4' 8 1/2". The southern RR's kept the 5' gauge until the spring of 1886, when in a 2 day period virtually all the trackage was regauged to "standard".

I'll clarify my statement. Lincoln's decree and Congress' action were pertinent to the Pacific Railway expansion.

 

As for gauge standards in the Northeast (and elsewhere), they were hardly the same. A little light reading on the subject is available:

 

https://campus.fsu.edu/bbcsweb...%20Track%20Gauge.pdf

 

http://www.strategicstandards.com/files/Metrics.pdf

 

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/li...n=div1;view=fulltext

 

 

>>The southern RR's kept the 5' gauge until the spring of 1886, when in a 2 day period virtually all the trackage was regauged to "standard".<<

 

Re-gauging the track was easy - back then they didn't use tie plates.

 

But how long did it take to convert all the locomotives and rolling stock?