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KAY GALLANT: As with steel and oil, America's railroads were an extremely important business in the eighteen-hundreds. In fact, they were the nation's biggest business. They were as important as automobiles and airplanes are to the American economy today.
Before the Civil War, most railroads were east of the Mississippi River. Most were small lines. In the years after the war, four major railroads got control of almost all the lines in the east. And they began building new lines in the west.
HARRY MONROE: The first rail line to cross the nation was completed in eighteen sixty-nine. It was built by two companies. One company started from the east and went west. The other went in the opposite direction. Finally, after six years of back-breaking labor, the two work teams met in northern Utah. They connected the rail lines with a golden spike.
It was a great moment in the nation's history. Now, at last, the two coasts of the United States were united by a single line of metal rail. It was like the day -- a hundred years later -- when the first American walked on the moon.
KAY GALLANT: Like the steel and oil industries, the railroad industry also had its stories of intense business competition. In this case, the most influential man was Cornelius Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt already was rich from the shipping industry. Now he formed the New York Central Railroad. It was the largest railroad in the east.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25