According to Joseph Schumpeter, many Midwestern railroads:

According to Joseph Schumpeter, many Midwestern railroads:
 a. were built too late and thus faced heavy competition from trucks.
  b. were built ahead of demand.
  c. were unnecessary because they followed routes already adequately served by other means of transportation.
  d. would have been built more quickly in the absence of government aid.

Question 2

Gains in railroad productivity were caused by:
 a. more powerful locomotives.
  b. automatic couplers.
  c. air brakes.
  d. All of the above are correct.
  e. Only a and b are correct.

Question 3

The sustained productivity growth of railroads occurred primarily because of:
 a. increased economies of scale.
  b. more powerful locomotives and more efficient freight cars.
  c. stronger steel rails.
  d. the advent of refrigerator cars.

Question 4

Railroad construction in the late 19th century:
 a. added little to economic fluctuations.
  b. strongly influenced capital formation.
  c. caused the three major financial crisis of that era.
  d. All of the above are correct.
  e. Only b and c are correct.

Question 5

Each of the three major waves in 19th-century railroad construction ended due to:
 a. major financial crises in the U.S.
  b. the involvement of the U.S. in a military conflict.
  c. labor unrest that led to work stoppages.
  d. shortage of iron.

Question 6

Data on miles of main line track in operation between 1860 and 1910 show that:
 a. total mileage first increased and then decreased, causing the growth rate to eventually become negative.
  b. total mileage and the growth rate both increased steadily.
  c. total mileage increased steadily, but the growth rate tapered off.
  d. total mileage increased at a constant pace, resulting in a nearly constant growth rate.

Question 7

During the last part of the 19th century, which of the following factors contributed to the lag in railroad construction in the Southeast and Southwest?
 a. sparseness of population
  b. war-induced poverty
  c. costal shipping
  d. All of the above are correct.
  e. Only b and c are correct.

Question 8

In the late 19th century, the chief railroad terminus was:
 a. New York.
  b. Chicago.
  c. New Orleans.
  d. St. Louis.

Question 9

Between 1864 and 1900, the largest portion of railroad track (as a percentage of total annual construction) was laid in which region of the U.S.?
 a. the Southeast
  b. the Northeast
  c. the Pacific Northwest
  d. the Great Plains region

Question 10

Widespread assumptions about the first transatlantic railroad did NOT include:
 a. that government support was as essential.
  b. that profits to the nation would be enormous.
  c. that private investors would be easily compensated for any risk.
  d. that transatlantic crossing via rail would take a fraction of the time of a clipper ship passage.

Question 11

The Willie and Martin Companies were:
 a. two groups of Mormon handcarters who were stranded when early winter storms interrupted their migration.
  b. two work teams that were instrumental in completing the first transcontinental railroad.
  c. the northern and southern branches, respectively, of the Granger organization.
  d. two railroad construction companies that were found to have insiders on the boards of railroad companies with which they contracted.

Question 12

The joining of the eastern and western sections of nation's first transcontinental railroad was commemorated with the driving of the last spike on May 10, 1869:
 a. in Salt Lake City.
  b. in Washington, D.C.
  c. at Promontory Point.
  d. on the rim of the Grand Canyon.

Question 13

Before the nation's first transcontinental railroad was completed, travelers to the Pacific Coast used which forms of transportation?
 a. ship, wagon
  b. dugout canoe, dirigible
  c. horse
  d. All of the above are correct.