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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. Which company built east from Sacramento?
  2. 2. Why could Eastern factories sell more goods in the West after 1869?
  3. 3. Where and when did the two lines meet?
  4. 4. Who did most of the Central Pacific's work?
2.Why could Great Plains farmers grow wheat to sell far away?
  • A.The government bought all their wheat
  • B.Trains could carry their wheat to distant markets
  • C.Wheat could not grow anywhere else
3.Why did the buffalo herds disappear so quickly after the railroad came?
  • A.Buffalo were used to build the tracks
  • B.Trains carried hunters in and buffalo hides out to Eastern factories
  • C.The buffalo all moved to Canada by train
4.How did refrigerated rail cars change what people ate?
  • A.Fresh meat and fruit could be sold far from where they were produced
  • B.Fruit could only be eaten where it grew
  • C.People stopped eating meat
5.Why did Chicago become a center for meatpacking?
  • A.The ocean carried cattle to Chicago
  • B.Cattle were raised in downtown Chicago
  • C.Railroads brought cattle and hogs there from the West
6.What often happened to a town the railroad passed by?
  • A.It grew faster than every other town
  • B.It shrank as trade moved to towns on the line
  • C.It became the state capital

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.11.3-5 · Set 16 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The Transcontinental Railroad

Set 16. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The Central Pacific Railroad. 2. Trains carried goods coast to coast in about a week instead of months. 3. At Promontory Summit, Utah Territory, on May 10, 1869. 4. Thousands of Chinese immigrants.
  2. 2.Trains could carry their wheat to distant markets
  3. 3.Trains carried hunters in and buffalo hides out to Eastern factories
  4. 4.Fresh meat and fruit could be sold far from where they were produced
  5. 5.Railroads brought cattle and hogs there from the West
  6. 6.It shrank as trade moved to towns on the line

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