Why do you think the early western railroads ran east and west rather than north and south?

The early western railroads ran east to west rather than north to south and the reason mainly was due to faster traveling east and west to move goods from coast to coast.

Explanation:

Main reasons behind the early western railroads running east and west rather than north and south were as follows:

Transcontinental roads were faster to travel and move goods from east and west from coast to coast. There was rise of the industries in the west that led to expansion of the railroads in order to link industries of the west to the markets of the east.