The first railroad invented that traveled across the country was called the transcontinental railroad. It consisted of 1,907 miles of iron rails, stretching from the Mississippi River all the way to San Francisco by the Pacific Ocean. The railroads provided a way to transport goods quicker and cheaper. It gave states and western settlements more money to buy other things such as coal, or livestock. Those first railroads also opened up jobs for the unemployed living in the western plains. Before these railroads were built, Abraham Lincoln passed the pacific railroad act of 1862. Stating that two companies (Union pacific, central pacific) to start building the first transcontinental railroad. During this build, over 18,000 workers were hired
