Locomotives Up the Turnpike: The Civil War Career of Quartermaster Captain Thomas R. Sharp, C.S.A.
by: David Bright
This book covers Confederate Capt. Thomas R. Sharp's Hauling 16 B&O Railroad locomotives from the Martinsburg/Harper's Ferry area up the Virginia Turnpike to Winchester, then to Strasburg and, via railroads, to Richmond. While Hauling, Sharp was ordered to repair the locomotives (and the 100 cars he had also taken) and to manage their use on the Virginia and North Carolina railroads. To do this, he established and ran the Confederate Locomotive Shops in Raleigh, N. C. until they were closed in early 1863. In his spare time, he completed and ran the Centreville Military Railroad.
Sharp then moved to be Superintendent of the Charlotte & South Carolina RR (operating out of Columbia) -- a vital link in the supply chain to Richmond and Lee. Sharp eventually outgrew this job and became the Transportation Coordinator for western and central South Carolina. He assisted with the evacuation of Columbia ahead of Sherman and ended the war changing the gauge of the North Carolina Railroad between Charlotte and Salisbury.
This is the first meaningful look at Sharp's war career and is complete in 231 pages with 7 original maps, 6 color computer renderings of the Hauled locomotives, 27 photos, notes, bibliography and index.
