The first railroad in Massachusetts was chartered in 1826 and since that time the commonwealth has seen dozens of operators expand and contract their operations. Interestingly enough, by 1836 railroad corporations had to submit reports of their activities to the Secretary of the Commonwealth and in 1871 a Railroad Commission was established to oversee these companies. This wonderful digital...

While it's impossible to take a transcontinental ride across the United States on the Union Pacific (the railroad doesn't exist anymore), visitors can get a sense of what such a ride would have been like via this fine set of digital exhibits. The Central Pacific Railroad Museum has been online since 1999, and it has grown from a few modest galleries of photographs to include thousands of...