Safer and more versatile railroads made it easier to travel and settle the West. Refrigerator cars helped the meatpacking industry to grow. Longer rail lines made it easier to send crops to markets. New railroads brought minerals and raw materials to iron and steel mills.
These are the effects of the growth of agriculture in the Midwest.
Railroads helped the US grow by making settlement in the West possible after the Civil War by connecting farmers (miners, ranchers, loggers, and others) to markets. there people and companies could both ship their produce to markets as well as ship in the machinery and supplies they needed. It was the only way to move large amounts of things quickly.
