Why was Theodore Judah called âcrazy Judah?â
Theodore Judah - A Visionary Engineer
Theodore Judah was a brilliant civil engineer who dreamed of building a transcontinental railroad. Judah convinced several Sacramento businessmen to invest in the Central Pacific Railroad. As chief engineer, he performed much of the route survey work to determine the best alignment for the railroad over the Sierra Nevada, which was completed six years after his death.
People thought Theodore Judah's idea to build a transcontinental railroad across the US was crazy. He worked tirelessly surveying a route for a railroad to connect California to the rest of the country.
Therefore, Theodore Judah was called "Crazy Judah" for his enthusiasm to build the transcontinental railroad.