The correct answer is D) by selling their own government-granted land to farmers.
Railroad companies profit from the building of the transcontinental railroad by selling their own government-granted land to farmers.
With the passing of the Pacific Railway Act of 1862, the United States government authorized two companies to build the Transcontinental Road: the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific. These companies made possible the connection of the East with the West of the United States. The works ended in 1869, when both railroads met at Promontory, Utah, on May the 10th.
