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By the mid 1800s, some 9000 miles of rail lines had been built in the United States. Early U.S. railroads copied the British mode of transportation, initially using horses to pull railcars until steam and then fossil fuel engines were built. Early railroads included comfortable passenger cars, very different than the crowded subway and railcars you often see today! Of course, many railroads provided cross-continental transportation, as this was long before individual passenger cars became the norm. Dining cars soon became an essential part of