USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Railroads became a major industry, stimulating other heavy industries such as iron and steel production. These advances in travel and transport helped drive settlement in the western regions of North America and were integral to the nation’s industrialization.

Detailed explanation-2: -Receiving millions of acres of public lands from Congress, the railroads were assured land on which to lay the tracks and land to sell, the proceeds of which helped companies finance the construction of their railroads. Not all railroads were built with government assistance, however.

Detailed explanation-3: -Inventions such as car couplers, air brakes, and Pullman passenger cars allowed the volume of both freight and people to increase steadily. From 1877 to 1890, both the amount of goods and the number of passengers traveling the rails tripled.

Detailed explanation-4: -Railroads Built in the Late 1800s. Between 1870 and 1890, the amount of railroad track in the United States tripled, dramatically changing the U.S. Although trains traveled slowly by today’s standards, they sped along the tracks more quickly than anyone could have imagined a century before.