A good indication of the speed of railroad acceptance was shown by the rapid increase of trackage from year to year. Between 1830 and 1840 about 2,800 miles of track was laid.

Between 1840 and 1850 the total increased to 9,000 miles. By 1860 tracks reached 30,000 miles. Construction continued, with time out for the Civil War, and by 1890, the total had reached 164,000. The peak of railroad mileage in the United States was reached by 1916 (254,000 miles). Since then the total has diminished somewhat.