Transportation and Technology

Why was it difficult to travel by rail in the mid to late 1800s (click all that apply)?

• Most track was in the eastern part of the country with very little track out West.

• Major rivers, like the Hudson, Mississippi, and Ohio lacked bridges.

• Track sizes were not standardized preventing trains from travelling freely.

• Aircraft transportation was quickly outpacing rail.

What did the federal government give the builders of the transcontinental railroad to aid construction (click all that apply)?

• Money, in the form of bonds and subsidies.

• Slave labor.

• Land grants.

• Technological support in the form of steam-powered machines.

Who was the entrepreneur who built the Great Northern Railroad?

• Andrew Carnegie

• James J. Hill

• John D. Rockefeller

• Cornelius Vanderbilt

________ Invented the telephone.

• Alexander Graham Bell

• Thomas Edison

• George Pullman

• George Westinghouse

________ invented the incandescent light.

• Alexander Graham Bell

• Thomas Edison

• George Pullman

• George Westinghouse

________ invented the sleeper cars in trains.

• Alexander Graham Bell

• Thomas Edison

• George Pullman

• George Westinghouse

________ invented the air brake for trains.

• Alexander Graham Bell

• Thomas Edison

• George Pullman

• George Westinghouse

The Union Pacific and Central Pacific tracks were joined together on May 10th, 1869 at ___________ _________, Utah.

One means of making railroads more efficient was through consolidation. This meant (click all that apply):

• Combining small rail lines.

• Buying up smaller companies to create larger ones.

• Sabotaging competitors.

• Buying government land.

The two gauges used by railways were __________ (3'6") and ____________ (4' 8 and 1/2")