The railroad profoundly changed America - especially in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Railroad consolidation was the practice of combining separate companies in the railroad industry. There were powerful railroad barons who controlled this industry on both the east and west coasts...Cornelius Vanderbilt, James J. Hill, Collis P. Huntington and Leland Stanford. Railroads stimulated the American economy and helped industries such as cattle, lumber, coal, farming and other industries to thrive. We covered standard gauges, new railway technology, competition for customers and how the railroad positively and tragically changed America. Once the railroad became transcontinental in 1869, four time zones were established across the continent. Railroads touched the lives of thousands of Americans and redistributed the population across the US.