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The Transcontinental Railroad is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on how the transcontinental railroad changed where goods were made and sold, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Geo.11.3-5. It prints 6 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

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The Transcontinental Railroad

D2.Geo.11.3-5

NameDate

Read the text and answer the questions, then circle the best answers.

1.Look at the source, then answer the questions.

The Transcontinental Railroad

An information text written for this worksheet. In 1862, during the Civil War, Congress passed a law to build a railroad across the country. The Central Pacific Railroad built east from Sacramento, California. The Union Pacific built west from Omaha, Nebraska. Thousands of Chinese immigrants did most of the Central Pacific's work. They blasted tunnels through the Sierra Nevada and were paid less than white workers. Many Irish immigrants and Civil War veterans laid track for the Union Pacific. The two lines met at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory, on May 10, 1869. A trip from coast to coast had taken months by wagon or ship. By train it took about a week. Ranchers could ship cattle to Chicago, and factories in the East could sell goods in the West. The railroad crossed the hunting lands of Plains nations such as the Lakota and Cheyenne, and brought hunters who killed millions of buffalo.

  1. 1. Which company built east from Sacramento?
  2. 2. How did the railroad change where ranchers sold their cattle?
  3. 3. What does this text not tell you about the workers?
  4. 4. Where and when did the two lines meet?
2.Why could Great Plains farmers grow wheat to sell far away?
  • A.The government bought all their wheat
  • B.Wheat could not grow anywhere else
  • C.Trains could carry their wheat to distant markets
3.Why did the government give railroad companies land?
  • A.To punish them for building too slowly
  • B.To make farms for their workers
  • C.To encourage them to build lines across the West
4.Why could mail-order catalogs sell goods across the country by the 1890s?
  • A.Every farm had its own store
  • B.Goods were sent by airplane
  • C.Trains could deliver packages to farm families far from stores
5.How did refrigerated rail cars change what people ate?
  • A.Fruit could only be eaten where it grew
  • B.People stopped eating meat
  • C.Fresh meat and fruit could be sold far from where they were produced
6.Why did Chicago become a center for meatpacking?
  • A.Cattle were raised in downtown Chicago
  • B.The ocean carried cattle to Chicago
  • C.Railroads brought cattle and hogs there from the West

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.11.3-5 · Set 10 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The Transcontinental Railroad

Set 10. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The Central Pacific Railroad. 2. They could ship cattle by train to Chicago. 3. It does not tell you how many workers died building the railroad. 4. At Promontory Summit, Utah Territory, on May 10, 1869.
  2. 2.Trains could carry their wheat to distant markets
  3. 3.To encourage them to build lines across the West
  4. 4.Trains could deliver packages to farm families far from stores
  5. 5.Fresh meat and fruit could be sold far from where they were produced
  6. 6.Railroads brought cattle and hogs there from the West

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Geo.11.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.