When railways were put into place in the west, cities began springing up around them. They started off merely is work camps, but as the locomotive brought more trade, the cities began to grow. This can be seen in towns like Sacramento, California and Chicago Illinois most started out of settlement towns, but with the use of the railroad have exponentially grown. In many of the cities the train station was a big part of the …show more content…
Now that these places had a built economy they can trade with other cities across the US. Before the railroads were used it took almost 6 months and cost $1,000 to travel between California and New York. After the Transcontinental Railroad was completed, it cost only $150 and took one week. Markets could now freely expand from coast to coast because the travel is a lot cheaper. With this expansion the markets on the East Coast started changing as well. Crops can be grown in abundance out west and then shipped very cheaply back to the east coast making it extremely favorable trade route. This could be seen in the expansion of the Meatpacking industry. Before the railroads it seems as if transporting meets was impossible but with the Advent of the refrigeration cars, meat could be moved from coast to coast which is why Chicago grew is a