Though they had been invented a couple hundred years prior, the 19th century saw the explosion of the railroad as both a mode of transportation and of moving cargo. The Army Corps of Engineers was instrumental in helping private enterprise build the American railroads, beginning in 1929 in Massachusetts, and culminating in the Transcontinental Railroad, which connected the eastern United States with the west in May of 1869, when the so-called golden spike was driven at Promontory Summit, Utah.
Regular Websites
Focuses on the work of George Pullman, who revolutionized train travel. Contains photographs of his various sleeping cars, his stroke of luck due to Lincoln's funeral train, and his other achievements. - George Pullman Era
http://www.chicagohs.org/history/pullman.html
Displays details about the beginnings of the railroads in the United States, the Transcontinental Railroad, the growth of mapping as a profession and an avocation, and land grants. - History of Railroads and Maps
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/rrhtml/rrintro.html
Seeks to answer questions about the early history of American railroads, delineates railroads by region, state, or name, and examines railroad maps from 1830 to 1850. - Old Rail History
http://oldrailhistory.com/
Railroad History Database Project
Offers details and invites participation in a project which has the goal of recording the history of the American railroad network in one database. - Railroad History Database Project
http://www.rrhistorical.com/rrdata/
Contains important dates and events regarding railway history worldwide, rosters of who builds various locomotives and other facts about them. - Railway History
http://www.sdrm.org/history/