The Tremendous Impact of Railroads on America In the late 19th century, railroads propelled America into an era of unprecedented growth, prosperity, and convenient transportation. Prior to the building of the railroads, America lacked the proper and rapid transportation to make traveling across the country economical or practical. Lengthy travel was often cumbersome, costly, and dangerous. With the advent of the railroad, many of these issues disappeared. Railroads had a major impact on advancing the American economy, transforming America into a modern society, and improving an antiquated transportation system. The building of railroads created rapid economic growth in America. Railroad companies employed more than one million workers to build and maintain railroads. At the same time, coal, timber, and steel industries employed thousands of workers to provide the supplies necessary to build railroads (Chapter 12 Industrialization). In turn, railroad companies spent large sums of money purchasing railroad supplies. The cycle of employing large numbers of workers, building the railroads, and spending large sums of money stimulated extraordinary growth in the economy. In addition, railroads caused the remarkable growth of nationwide marketing in America in the late 19th century. Railroads allowed mail-order service to reach most consumers living in rural regions of America. The extended market increased the demand for previously difficult to obtain or unavailable goods to