Theodore Dehone Judah

Student in 1837
Transcontinental Railroad Visionary
1826-1863

Theodore Judah was known as "Crazy Judah" because of his single-minded passion for driving a railroad through the Sierra Nevada mountains.

His advocacy and enthusiasm for the project in California and in Washington, D.C., made possible America's first transcontinental route.

Judah constructed the first railroad in California, helped organize the Central Pacific Railroad Co., surveyed routes across the Sierra Nevada, and served as the railroad's agent in Washington, D.C.