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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

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. How were the Chinese workers treated unfairly?
  2. 2. What does this text not tell you about the workers?
  3. 3. Who did most of the Central Pacific's work?
  4. 4. How did the railroad change where ranchers sold their cattle?
2.Why did the government give railroad companies land?
  • A.To encourage them to build lines across the West
  • B.To make farms for their workers
  • C.To punish them for building too slowly
3.Why did the buffalo herds disappear so quickly after the railroad came?
  • A.Buffalo were used to build the tracks
  • B.The buffalo all moved to Canada by train
  • C.Trains carried hunters in and buffalo hides out to Eastern factories
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.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
6.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

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.11.3-5 · Set 3 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The Transcontinental Railroad

Set 3. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. They were paid less than white workers for dangerous work blasting tunnels. 2. It does not tell you how many workers died building the railroad. 3. Thousands of Chinese immigrants. 4. They could ship cattle by train to Chicago.
  2. 2.To encourage them to build lines across the West
  3. 3.Trains carried hunters in and buffalo hides out to Eastern factories
  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.