"Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you'll be able to see farther."
J. P. Morgan
Railroad Power
Railroads strongly impacted urbanization. The creation of their railways helped connect people in very different places. It also could carry goods from one area to another or carry people. This would spread out the population to other areas. Also many cities were created close to railroad stations therefore goods could be received and distributed. That was the beginning of urbanization. Cornelius Vanderbilt was behind the creation of the railroad system and supported it financially. He also created a form of a diesel engine. This brings us to Rockefeller.
Oil
John D. Rockefeller refined the nation's oil. He monopolized the oil industry. Oil was used for heating, machinery in the the factories. Machines in the factories of the urban cities needed lubricant to work properly. Oil became a necessity for these thriving work places. Oil also was used for the diesel engine that Vanderbilt was creating. Rockefeller was successful through horizontal integration which means he could control the productions and prices of the oil from the refineries to the consumer.
Steel
Andrew Carnegie was the head of the steel industry. Unlike Rockefeller he used Vertical Integration which gave him a bigger hold on every single step of of the production of steel to the distribution. Carnegie got the idea of using steel rather than iron from England. He noticed the iron rails did not even compare to the steel rails. He was also able to suppress unions in the steel industry. Steel played a big part in the railroads and the factories in America.
Funding
This would not all have been possible without the help of John Pierpont (JP) Morgan. He is a well known banker who was very influential during this time of industrialization and urbanization. He financed Rockefeller, Carnegie and Vanderbilt. Without him these men would not have been able to accomplish all that they did. And without all these men together the Gilded Age most likely wouldn't have accomplished what it did for the industry and culture of America.