By the end of the 1800's, railroads connected the world. In an interview with NET Radio's Jerry Johnston, William Thomas and Leslie Working describe the National Endowment for the Humanities Digging into Data award for Railroads and the Making of Modern America. An international team, including Professor Richard Healey at the University of Portsmouth (UK) and faculty at Nebraska in Computer Science and History, will focus on the transnational process of railroad development. The team will look especially at worker migration and mobility, women's experiences, and environmental impacts that came with railroad development. They will develop case studies of the Northeast U.S. and the Great Plains.