Earlier today we brought you an exclusive first look at 'Hell on Wheels' picking up steam with the final three episodes of season 4, but it seems the Transcontinental Railroad will officially run out of track in the next few years. The AMC period drama hasn't quite been canceled, though the network has officially renewed 'Hell on Wheels' for a fifth and final season...with a twist in the track.

It seems that while 'Hell on Wheels' fans have at least 14 more episodes to go for a fifth season, AMC has decided to pull a 'Mad Men' and stretch out the final year to two. The first 7 episodes of 'Hell on Wheels' fifth season will air in summer 2015, with the final seven episodes moving to 2016, much as the network dragged out the final run of Don Draper's dapper dalliances to keep its few remaining successful series on the air.

Says AMC of the announcement:

With season five of Hell on Wheels, we are proud to bring our trans-continental journey to conclusion for the large, loyal audience that has traveled with Cullen Bohannon and his crew for so many years. We look forward to appropriately honoring ‘Hell on Wheels’ in this final season. Enormous thanks to the terrific writers, cast and crew for all they have achieved and for all that lies ahead in the Wild West.

For what it's worth, 'Hell on Wheels' has actually proven a surprising success for the network, surviving its move to Saturday nights to actually establish a brand-new night of programming. And where the first three seasons of the transcontinental railroad drama unfurled with only 10 episodes, shedding several showrunners in the process, season 4 jumped to 13 episodes with a successful rebound.

Well, what do you think? Are you sad to see 'Hell on Wheels' rolling to an inevitable conclusion, even if we'll have new episodes through 2016? How would you like to see Cullen Bohannon come to a close? Don't forget to watch tomorrow's "Bleeding Kansas" premiere, and give us your predictions in the comments!

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