 Theodore Judah, architect of the Transcontinental Railroad and first chief engineer of the Central Pacific. Theodore Dehone Judah (March 4, 1826 - November 2, 1863) was an American engineer who dreamed of the First Transcontinental Railroad and launched the Central Pacific Railroad Image File history File links Theodore_Dehone_Judah. ...
March 4 is the 63rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (64th in leap years). ...
The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...
November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. ...
1863 (MDCCCLXIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar). ...
Look up engineer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
The official poster announcing the Pacific Railroads grand opening. ...
The Gov. ...
He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Judah studied engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute after his family moved to Troy, New York. Nickname: Location in Connecticut Coordinates: NECTA Bridgeport-Stamford Region Greater Bridgeport Incorporated (town) 1821 Incorporated (city) 1836 Government type Mayor-council Mayor John M. Fabrizi Area - City 19. ...
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, or RPI, is a coeducational private university in Troy, New York, near Albany, founded in 1824 by Stephen Van Rensselaer. ...
Looking west down Broadway at downtown Troy. ...
Theodore Judah was known as "Crazy Judah" because of his single-minded passion for driving a railroad through the wall of mountains known as the Sierra Nevada, something that was considered impossible by many at the time. Failing to raise funds in San Francisco he was successful in signing up four Sacramento merchants--the "Big Four" who actually built the Central Pacific. They were Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins and Charles Crocker. The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range that is almost entirely in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of California. ...
Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824 – June 21, 1893) was an American business tycoon, politician and founder of Stanford University. ...
Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins and Charles Crocker) who built the Southern Pacific Railroad and other major interstate train lines. ...
Mark Hopkins (September 1, 1813 – March 29, 1878) was one of four principal investors who formed the Central Pacific Railroad along with Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker and Collis Huntington in 1861. ...
subject_name=Charles Crocker| image_name=ccrocker. ...
As the chief engineer of the Central Pacific Railroad, he surveyed the route over the Sierra Nevadas along which the railroad was eventually built during the 1860s. His tireless lobbying efforts in Washington D.C., and those of his wife Anna, were also largely responsible for the passage of the 1862 Pacific Railroad Act, which authorized construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Judah broke with the Big Four who bought him out in 1863; they put Crocker in charge of construction. Construction was completed in 1869, but only a small part of the railroad followed Judah's plans. The Gov. ...
Theodore died of Yellow Fever (Panama Fever, as it was also known). He caught the disease while taking a boat trip with his wife back to New York City during his land crossing of the Isthmus of Panama. He was going to New York in an effort to find alternative financing to buy out The Big Four investors. Nickname: Big Apple; City that never Sleeps; Gotham Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area - City 1,214. ...
The Isthmus of Panama. ...
Alternate meaning: The Big Four (novel) The Big Four were the chief entrepreneurs in the building of the Central Pacific Railroad, the western portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States. ...
The CP generally ignored Judah, though it did name one of its steam locomotives (CP No. 4) after him, and a memorial plaque dedicated to Judah currently stands in Folsom, California. Ironically, the 19 ton locomotive, already bearing his name, crossed paths with Judah on his fateful trip to New York. Within days of his death, the Central Pacific's first locomotive Gov. Stanford, made its first trial run over the new railroad's first 500 feet of track. Great Western Railway No. ...
T.D. Judah was the name of a 4-2-2 steam locomotive owned by the Central Pacific Railroad. ...
Folsom is a city in Sacramento County, California, USA. Though Folsom is most commonly known by its famous Folsom Prison, it is a thriving suburb of Sacramento. ...
Gov. ...
Historical analysis Historians have been sharply divided over his legacy. There is no disagreement that he was an incurable optimist who popularized the remarkable plan of building a transcontinental railroad, convinced the Big Four to finance it, and was instrumental in securing Congressional passage of the 1862 law.
Some historians speculate that if he had been in charge the political situation of the late 19th century would have been less corrupt, but they have no evidence one way or the other. These historians tend to agree with Judah's allegations that Judah stood for quality, whereas the Big Four were more interested in speedy development at maximum profit to themselves.
Many historians, however, agree with the Big Four that Judah was a brilliant visionary but a careless engineer--an astonishingly good promoter, but not a builder. When he left the project, only a short section of track not even a mile in length had been laid. They argue that Judah was an obstacle by 1863 not an asset.
References
- Ambrose, Stephen E. (2000). Nothing Like It In The World; The men who built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-84609-8.
- David Haward Bain, Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad (2000)
- John Debo Galloway; The First Transcontinental Railroad: Central Pacific, Union Pacific (1950)
- Theodore Henry Hittell, History of California (1898) vol 4
- White, John H., Jr., (Spring 1986), America's most noteworthy railroaders, Railroad History, The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, 154, p. 9-15.
Stephen Ambrose, at the 2001 premier of Band of Brothers Stephen Edward Ambrose (January 10, 1936 - October 13, 2002) was a popular historian and biographer of Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. ...
Spring is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. ...
1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
See also The establishment of Americas transcontinental rail lines permanently linked California to the rest of the country, and the far-reaching transportation systems that grew out of them during the century that followed contributed immeasurably to the state’s unrivaled social, political, and economic development. ...
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