The amount of track currently in existence in Grantville can be used to set the standards for all other railroads. This pre-existing track is probably the most significant reason that standard gauge in the new timeline will be the same as standard gauge in the old timeline. That is to say, significant amounts of equipment already exist in the standard gauge so new equipment will probably be built to match.
The first track-laying railroad crews will probably be fairly small. These very first crews will probably consist of eight or ten men. As the full scope of the work becomes more and more apparent, the size of the crew will increase rapidly. And, as mentioned previously, crew sizes will vary wildly until the people building railroads begin to understand the true scope of the project.
As the crews increase in size, the amount of equipment and infrastructure will also increase. Housing the really large number of men involved will be one of the first things to be dealt with. Early in the railroad-building era most crews will be housed in a manner similar to the large mercenary armies that have been rampaging through the countryside. It will already be apparent that housing hundreds, even thousands, of men in the villages along the route of the railroad will be impractical. Gathering the men up before the days work and scattering them back to their housing at the end of the day, and finding new housing as a rail-head moves forward uses tremendous amounts of time that could be more profitably used in putting track on the ground.
Large tent compounds will probably be the preferred method of housing this large group of workers. Supporting this large housing compound will be necessary sanitary facilities and kitchen equipment and personnel needed to feed the large group of workers.
It should also be noted that some railroad companies in our timeline did not maintain large cooking compounds and equipment, but distributed a week of rations to each crew of 10 or 15 men and had them do their own cooking. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. When a crew does its own cooking and housing, it uses up time that the railroad corporation would rather have spent on construction. Also, it creates the need for baggage wagons for the equipment all the individual workers need as living supplies. Having a kitchen crew allows centralized production of food and good, consistent control over what is consumed, but it comes with the requirement of additional personnel and equipment.
Another consideration is where to hire all of these workers. With the agriculturally-based economy prevalent in our new timeline, there will not normally be a large group of people able to just pull up stakes and move on. At least they will not be available from the farming villages or the industrial centers currently in existence. There is, however, a fairly large group available whose current employment is winding down. These are the mercenary regiments that have been fighting in the Thirty Years' War.
It is entirely possible that some mercenary regiments may see the future of declining combat in Europe and decide to switch over to being railroad construction companies. This would provide the work crews with organization and cohesiveness that will be sorely needed when they are trying to do something so new. Further the opportunity to earn "cold hard cash" will be almost irresistible to certain segments of the general population. This opportunity to work will draw large numbers of individuals out of the general population.
The organization of companies to build railroads will spin off many other industries. Suppliers that make ties, rails, and ballast will need to be created, shipping companies will need to be organized, and supply groups will need to be formed in order to provide the thousand and one things needed to build a railroad. Companies will come into existence to build locomotives, railcars, communications equipment, and signaling equipment. All of these things will be absolutely required for the new railroad to work properly.
These new concerns will tend to create railroad companies that have little or no contact with up-timers. As a matter of fact, a railroad construction crew may never see any up-timers at all. The Grantville connection will be almost all about training, or teaching the skills needed to the construction workers.
Another Grantville connection will probably be in labor organization. Unlike our timeline, the new construction companies will have the example of a large well-organized union. They get this both from the United Mine Workers and the Grange. This is very different from the railroad construction companies of our past. In North America, during the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, construction workers were extremely undisciplined and ill-mannered. This was so much the case that the Union Pacific Railroad hired military leadership to impose control. Even with this, fights, murders, extortion, and criminal activity were all common in the large masses of men building the railroad across the continent. Hopefully, railroad construction may not be so disorderly in the 1632 universe.
One last item may be of interest. While not directly related to putting the steel on the ground, the financial aspect of such large corporations may be relevant. Whenever there is a large amount of money under the control of a fairly diverse group of people, corruption and illegal activities are often present. It's entirely possible, even likely, that graft, thefts, substandard materials, fraud, and confidence schemes will abound. Many corporations will want to abuse labor for as much as they can get. Many labor organizations will want more than their work is worth. The opportunity for open conflict will be very large.
Railroad construction requires large numbers of highly organized workers. Construction speed will vary from no miles in a day to around ten miles in a day. As the various political organizations in the new timeline see the advantages of rail transportation, many miles of railroad will be constructed.
In our timeline, the railroad construction phase has not yet ended. Even now many new miles of track are being laid. Likewise, in the new timeline, railroad construction may well be a fairly permanent condition. Railroad construction will start out slow and will accelerate as more and more industrial capacity becomes available.
References
http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/hist-ov/hist-ov4.shtml
http://cprr.org/Museum/Chinese.html
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/features/timeline/riseind/railroad/trans.html
http://www.scalefour.org/resources/track.htm
*[EA] "Railroads," Encyclopedia Americana
*[EB11] Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed. (1911), [EB11/R] "Railways," [EB11/B] "Boiler," [EB11/SE] "Steam Engine;" see also "Rolling Mills," "Brake," "Traction," "Coal," "Fuel," etc.
*Ellis, Pictorial Encyclopedia of Railways
Clarke, et al., The American Railway: Its Construction, Development, Management and Appliances (1972)(reprint of 1897 edition)
[NOCK/RE] Nock, Encyclopedia of Railroads (1977).
THE END
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Grantville Gazette Volume 25 Page 33