Question

How did the bulking up

of railroad technology, including the use of steel rails and larger trains, affect what people could move?

Answer 1

The use of steel rails and larger trains increased the railroads' capacity to carry heavier loads, leading to more freight and passengers being transported. This transformation accelerated America's industrial growth and supported the transition from rural to urban society, while also fostering the emergence of a national market system.

Step-by-step explanation:

The bulking up of railroad technology, including the use of steel rails and larger trains, significantly improved the transportation system in the United States and Europe. With advancements in steel manufacturing technology, railroads were able to use more rust-resistant steel to manufacture heavier and stronger rail lines. This enabled the support of heavier locomotives that could pull heavier loads, thus expanding the railroads' capacity to carry more freight and passengers. The availability of inexpensive and strong steel and technology innovations like car couplers and air brakes increased the volume of transported goods and people, tripling both the amount of goods and number of passengers travelling by rail between 1877 and 1890.

Railroads not only became the nation's first "big business" but also accelerated the development of other industries by transporting vast mineral resources and connecting raw materials with industrial factories, and finished goods with consumer markets. This transportation revolution transformed America from a rural country to an urban society, created new job opportunities, and contributed to the emergence of a national market system.

Answer 2

The increase in rail technology will also increase the size of the machinery that will be transported to the goods, which will mean a decrease in the transport of people. This increase was possible thanks to the use of materials such as steel. In the same way, the railway technological advance gave rise to the idea that ideas about nature change in some negative way the environment in which people lived.