I know there was no railroad working or (rail) work done in this area during the war, but a soldier's letter in 1864 tells of some kind of a railroad earth works in the area. If it was the start of something, it was probably from the 1850's. So the diary of Judge John Brown maybe be documenting what the soldier saw. Everything in the soldier's letter is very accurate, but the railroad part was throwing me off. So what I'm trying to document is, was there some kind of railroad dirt work done prior to the civil war in this area and the soldier's letter along with the Brown diary may be doing that. Thanks R.D.