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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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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

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. Why was the railroad a disaster for Plains nations?
  2. 2. Which company built east from Sacramento?
  3. 3. Who did most of the Central Pacific's work?
  4. 4. Where and when did the two lines meet?
2.Why did the government give railroad companies land?
  • A.To punish them for building too slowly
  • B.To encourage them to build lines across the West
  • C.To make farms for their workers
3.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
4.Why could mail-order catalogs sell goods across the country by the 1890s?
  • A.Every farm had its own store
  • B.Trains could deliver packages to farm families far from stores
  • C.Goods were sent by airplane
5.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
6.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

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.11.3-5 · Set 18 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The Transcontinental Railroad

Set 18. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. It brought hunters who killed millions of buffalo on their hunting lands. 2. The Central Pacific Railroad. 3. Thousands of Chinese immigrants. 4. At Promontory Summit, Utah Territory, on May 10, 1869.
  2. 2.To encourage them to build lines across the West
  3. 3.Trains could carry their wheat to distant markets
  4. 4.Trains could deliver packages to farm families far from stores
  5. 5.Trains brought customers and carried away crops
  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.