How Railroads Changed the United States

Early railroads prove that steam-powered transportation can connect cities and inland markets.

Networks expand rapidly; railroads become strategically important during the Civil War.

The first transcontinental railroad is completed, dramatically changing travel and western development.

Rail mileage, industrial production, immigration, railroad labor and national commerce expand together.

Railroads adopt standardized time zones to make schedules across long distances workable.

Railroads carry passengers, mail, food, manufactured goods and enormous wartime traffic.

Automobiles, highways, trucks and airlines reshape transportation; many railroads consolidate or struggle.

Deregulation, intermodal traffic, unit trains and technology reshape freight rail into a high-capacity national network.