What was the Federal Government's Role in Fostering railroads Expansion after the Civil War?

Question

thats it

Answer 1

If i'm not mistaken, but I probably am, the federal government paid per mile of track laid.
Thus there was a race from the east coast west and the west
coast east.
Another element would have been the acceptance of imigrants as the Chinnese were heavily involved in the construction from the west coast east, so if the Govenement was anything like that of now there would have been an uproar.
There was a very good docudrama on BBC a year back on the building of the rail roads (think it was BBC/America production)

Answer 2

First of all it was government which gave the railroads their legal existance as corporate entities. Next the government facilitated railway construction through massive land grants. The government also created a favorable legal environment within which the railroads could operate. Finally the federal government was willing at crucial points to intervene in favor of railroad companies during labor disputes.

Answer 3

Actauly the goverment gave the Rail roads land for every mile of Trak something like x amount of land in each direction on each side of the tracks. That is why the railroads tried to avoid connecting East and West for a while