The West the Railroads Made October 9, 2008

Take a fresh look at what the iron road created in 'The West the Railroads Made.' Learn about how this one form of transportation reshaped the West and helped create a truly continental nation. Beyond iron tracks and coal-fired engines, the story of railroads is a story of transformation. By bringing in immigrants, railroads changed the character of the region's population. By building depots, bridges and tunnels, it changed the area's landscape. By promoting agriculture, ranching and mining on a grand scale, it changed the people's way of life. Railroads brought the modern world to the West and the West to the modern world.