> In 1859 the US Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, strongly favored the southerly railroad route from New Orleans to San Diego: it was shorter, had no major mo

> In 1859 the US Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, strongly favored the southerly railroad route from New Orleans to San Diego: it was shorter, had no major mountains to traverse, and had lower operational costs due to lack of snowfall to clear from the tracks. However, in the 1850s no Congressman from a northern state would have voted for a southerly railroad route to aid the Confederacy's slave-based economy, and no Congressman from the south would have voted for a northerly route. I feel like this overlooks the other main reason to prefer a northern route - the north was where most of the people and industry were. The midwest and northeast were much denser than the southeast, and it was important for railroads to serve industrial hubs like St. Louis and Chicago, which had onward connections to the northeast. A San Diego-New Orleans Route is "shorter" only if you overlook the extra 850+ miles to get from New Orleans to Chicago, plus the additional travel within California (probably by ship). There are good reasons to prefer the northern alignment that was chosen, and Jefferson Davis' motivation was just as political as the northern Congressmen who opposed the southern alignment.