U.S. expansionist sensibilities and successes laid the foundation for building a transcontinental railroad. But as Don Russell, editor of Trails of the Iron Horse suggests, the western railroad really wasn't invented. It happened. A number of forces and influences drove transcontinental railroad development, ranging from technological advances in locomotion to U.S. military movements and explorations, and increasing immigration and homesteading throughout the Wild West. But perhaps most important was the vision of a select few who saw what could be.
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