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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

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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. How were the Chinese workers treated unfairly?
  2. 2. Which company built east from Sacramento?
  3. 3. Why could Eastern factories sell more goods in the West after 1869?
  4. 4. Where and when did the two lines meet?
2.Why did Chicago become a center for meatpacking?
  • A.Cattle were raised in downtown Chicago
  • B.Railroads brought cattle and hogs there from the West
  • C.The ocean carried cattle to Chicago
3.Why did new towns grow up along the railroad line?
  • A.The railroad paid people to live there
  • B.Trains brought customers and carried away crops
  • C.Towns could only be built near tracks by law
4.Why did the buffalo herds disappear so quickly after the railroad came?
  • A.The buffalo all moved to Canada by train
  • B.Trains carried hunters in and buffalo hides out to Eastern factories
  • C.Buffalo were used to build the tracks
5.Why could mail-order catalogs sell goods across the country by the 1890s?
  • A.Goods were sent by airplane
  • B.Every farm had its own store
  • C.Trains could deliver packages to farm families far from stores
6.Before the railroad, how did most goods travel from New York to California?
  • A.By ship around South America, or by wagon
  • B.By interstate highway
  • C.By airplane

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.11.3-5 · Set 11 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The Transcontinental Railroad

Set 11. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. They were paid less than white workers for dangerous work blasting tunnels. 2. The Central Pacific Railroad. 3. Trains carried goods coast to coast in about a week instead of months. 4. At Promontory Summit, Utah Territory, on May 10, 1869.
  2. 2.Railroads brought cattle and hogs there from the West
  3. 3.Trains brought customers and carried away crops
  4. 4.Trains carried hunters in and buffalo hides out to Eastern factories
  5. 5.Trains could deliver packages to farm families far from stores
  6. 6.By ship around South America, or by wagon

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