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: -Railroads allowed for increasing production in counties that were otherwise underutilizing inputs, or where the value marginal product of inputs (be they labor, capital, or materials) was greater than their marginal cost.

Detailed explanation-3: -Railroads made it much easier to transport large quantities of the natural resources needed to produce steel (iron, coal), which increased the demand for those products. Railroads also reshaped the steel industry (and many others) by developing vertical integration.

Detailed explanation-4: -Railroads were effective, reliable, and faster modes of transportation, edging out competitors such as the steamship. They traveled faster and farther, and carried almost fifty times more freight than steamships could. They were more dependable than any previous mode of transportation, and not impacted by the weather.