Railroads began operating in the Eastern U.S. in the 1820s and expanded to the West later in the 19th Century, bringing unprecedented prosperity as ever greater numbers of Americans looked for new opportunities and a fresh start. The troubled history of how railroads survived the challenge of building a route through mountainous Colorado, however, is incredibly complex. Palisade was not included on any routes until 1890, though it quickly became a hub for shipping fruit to markets in the Midwest and an excellent source of bituminous coal. Passenger trains also stopped in Palisade for several decades.