PART ONE: First Things First: Beginnings in History, to 500 B

The photo shows clearly what a great event this was in U.S. history and can serve as a good starting point for a discussion of (1) the invention of the railroad, (2) what was actually involved in laying long distances of track, and (3) how the transcontinental railroad “opened up” the western United States to a hitherto unheard-of degree. ................
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