According to the 1860 Census there were 22,000 miles of railroad track in the Northern states, and 9,000 miles of track in the Southern States that would comprise the Confederacy.
In 1853, the Southern states had 26% of the total railroad mileage in the country for 23% of the US population.
By 1859 according to the Boston Railway Times, there were 27,000 miles of railroads in the United States and that the Southern states percentage had grown to one third of the total of miles built. In addition to this fact, the railroads in the South had been constructed with private monies instead of Federal subsidies, were paid for, and had been cheaper to construct.
Why this is significant I will leave to you.