The development of railroads was one of the most important phenomena of the Industrial Revolution. With their formation, construction and operation, they brought profound social, economic and political change to a country only 50 years old.
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Railroads became a major industry, stimulating other heavy industries such as iron and steel production. These advances in travel and transport helped drive settlement in the western regions of North America and were integral to the nation's industrialization.
A synergy between iron and steel, railroads and coal developed at the beginning of the Second Industrial Revolution. Railroads allowed cheap transportation of materials and products, which in turn led to cheap rails to build more roads. Railroads also benefited from cheap coal for their steam locomotives.
The advent of the railways in Europe drastically changed time and distance during the Industrial Revolution. Before the invention of railways, people relied on other means of transportation such as walking and using horses.
John Stevens is considered to be the father of American railroads. In 1826 Stevens demonstrated the feasibility of steam locomotion on a circular experimental track constructed on his estate in Hoboken, New Jersey, three years before George Stephenson perfected a practical steam locomotive in England.
Called the “Golden Spike Ceremony”, the last spike linked the two railroads to create a transcontinental railroad. Thus started the beginning of the American Industrial Revolution. The Transcontinental Railroad helped facilitate American interests in the west. It allowed for far easier access to the western states.
The railroads powered the industrial economy. They consumed the majority of iron and steel produced in the United States before 1890. As late as 1882, steel rails accounted for 90 percent of the steel production in the United States. They were the nation's largest consumer of lumber and a major consumer of coal.
Railroads took off in the United States because cars and airplanes hadn't been invented yet! Trains served as the most important mode of transportation during a period of time called “The Golden Age” of railroads, which lasted from the 1880s until the 1920s.
Even though railroads made life a little bit easier, it was hazardous to the environment, and the people, such as the destruction of natural resources, more pollution in the air also affected people causing even more diseases and made it much harder to breather with these conditions.
The increase in railroad mileage made it possible to transport goods and people over long distances quickly and efficiently. This led to the creation of a national market for goods, which in turn encouraged mass production and mass consumption.