USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Two major advances came forward that improved braking on trains and dramatically improved safety and efficiency of train movements and led to other advances in technology for safety and in greater throughput of trains due to improving headways.

Detailed explanation-2: -The invention of the steam engine, credited to James Watt in 1774, would prove to be a crucial improvement to rail transportation even though coal mine pumping efficiency was the intended outcome of his invention.

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: -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.