JONATHAN, I know you are Canadian; perhaps you knew:
".... there was fear by the British that at the end of the Civil War, no matter what its outcome, the Americans would turn on Canada. Thus, in the House of Lords, the Earl of Ellenborough noted:
in whatever manner the present civil war in America terminates--whether in the success of the North, or in the South suceeding in establishing their independence--that is whatever manner the present civil war in America terminates--the immediate result will be an irruption into Canada? If the people of the North fail, they will attack Canada to obtain a compensation for their loss. If they succeed, they will attack Canada in the drunkenness of victory." Debate, House of Lords, July 18, 1862.
"the drunkenness of victory!" - shame on Canada, of course, it could be true!
From skimming those two sites, BARBARA, (and thank you) it appears that before the war railroad building was left up to private initiative or the states; however the Civil War brought in the government for the first time, but it was a postwar project:
"The Civil War and the needs of post-Appomattox transportation brought changes in the American way of railroad building. Initially focused on local, limited markets with only modest capital investment, the railroad became a national industry dependant upon Congressional action, army deployment, and continuing access to national financial markets"
