USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -By the end of the decade, Vanderbilt dominated the steamboat business on the Sound, and began to take over management of the connecting railroads.

Detailed explanation-2: -By the 1850s he had turned his attention to railroads, buying up so much stock in the New York and Harlem Railroad that by 1863 he owned the line. He later acquired the Hudson River Railroad and the New York Central Railroad and consolidated them in 1869.

Detailed explanation-3: -Vanderbilt recognized its value in transporting goods in and out of the city, and it was soon a very profitable line. Vanderbilt took control of the Hudson River Railroad in 1864, the New York Central Railroad in 1867, and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway in 1869 after his success with the Harlem.

Detailed explanation-4: -In the early 1850s, some 15 years or more before the transcontinental railroad was built, Vanderbilt began steamship service that transported gold-hungry prospectors from New York to San Francisco via a route across Nicaragua.