University of Nebraska
U of Nebraska: Railroads and Making of Modern America: Railroad Work and Workers
Primary source materials related to employment by the railroads in the 1800s. Content includes letters, an employee database, blacklists that were shared between companies, payrolls, images, and more.
University of Nebraska
University of Nebraska Lincoln: Railroads and the Making of Modern America
Corruptions, malfeasance, bribery and fraud - all these terms can describe the construction process of the American railroad system. Search primary source documents to uncover the shenanigans that took place in the late 19th century....
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission
Explore Pa History: George Westinghouse
Read about George Westinghouse's invention, the train air brake, that revolutionized the safety of trains and train travel. Find out how the air brake worked and why it was such an important invention for the railroads.
Other
Railroad Archive: Westinghouse Air Brake
Everything necessary to know about the Westinghouse Air Brake for railroad cars is included on this site. There are diagrams of the air pump, triple valve, and advice on how to use the brake correctly. This brake was a life-saver for...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: The Olomana in the Kingdom of Hawaii
Objects can lead you to some interesting stories. Read and see where and how this toy-like locomotive was used. Cursor down to locate this information.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Granville T. Woods
A fascinating biography of Granville T. Woods. It tells of his impact on railroad transportation, and how some of his inventions are still used today. Links with additional information are also available.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Power: Taming the Octopus: The Octopus in the West
A reading guide and discussion questions for Frank Norris' novel, "The Octopus," which outlines the unbridled power of the American railroads.
Library of Congress
Loc: Rise of Industrial America: Railroads in the Late 19th Century
A compilation of primary source documents addressing building and running the railroad system in the late 19th century.
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Iron Horse: Railroad Towns
From a lengthy essay on the history of the railroad in the United States. This section describes the railroad towns that were established by the railroad companies along their routes, and had a reputation for shoddiness and disreputable...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Iron Horse: Towns Shapes
From a lengthy essay on the history of the railroad in the United States. This section describes the town layouts that were commonplace for railroad towns.
Great Idea Finder
The Great Idea Finder: Inventor Granville Woods Biography
A detailed biography of Granville T. Woods, who was known as "the Black Edison" because of his many inventions. He is best known for greatly improving the safety of railroads by his invention of the Multiplex Railway Telegraph.
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: Made in Chicago: The Refrigerated Rail Car
This brief description explains how the refrigerated rail car worked and why it was so important to the shipment of meat products from the Midewest to the east.
Chicago History Museum
Chicago History Museum: Pullman Luxury Rail Car
Read about the luxurious rail car George Pullman introduced that made transcontinental rail travel so desirable.
Other
Bhra: Granville Woods
Read this homage to Granville Woods, whose inventions and improvements to the railway system not only made railroad travel safer, but also made the New York City railway system a possibility.
Other
African American Inventors and Their Inventions: Granville T. Woods
Here is a thorough biography of inventor Granville T. Woods, who is credited with improving railway safety for bot the trains and trainmen. Find out what concepts in railroad safety are still being used today.
Smithsonian Institution
National Portrait Gallery: Portraits of American Railroading: Gustavus F. Swift
Read a brief biography of Gustavus Swift, who was at the forefront of developing the refrigerato rail car that revolutionized shipment of meat from the Midwest to the East.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: A Biography of America: The u.s. Rail Network Around 1880
Annenberg Learner's series on Industrial Supremacy in America includes this map showing the major rail lines east of the Mississippi River in about 1880.
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Iron Horse: Ideology
From a lengthy essay on the history of the railroad in the United States. This section describes the role of townsite agents who, in addition to helping plan a town, acted as 'information brokers' to advise would-be merchants of the...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Inventor of the Week: Granville T. Woods
Inventor Granville T. Woods is featured in this brief biography for his multiplex telegraph which was a useful invention for the railroad industry.
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Iron Horse: Consolidations
From a lengthy essay on the history of the railroad in the United States. This section describes the consolidation of all the different railroad companies into seven by 1906, and the concern that was developing over this concentration of...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Iron Horse: What Was Impact of the Railroads?
From a lengthy essay on the history of the railroad in the United States. This section describes the positive economic benefits the construction of the railroads provided to the developing nation as a whole, and the negative impact it...
Other
Granville T. Woods
Read a brief biography of Graville T. Woods, known as "The Black Edison" because of the multitude and scope of his inventions. Perhaps his most important was a way for trains to communicate with each other.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Railroads in the 1800s
Learn details of the fascinating history of the early American railroads in the 1800s including their invention, their expansion, significance, and their impact on the transportation system of America.
Other
A Classification of American Wealth: America in the Gilded Age
This site's section, which is part of a larger article on the Gilded Age, focuses on the railroad which began to grow in the latter half of the nineteenth century.