<P> Theodore Judah was a fervent supporter of the central route railroad . He lobbied vigorously in favor of the project and undertook the survey of the route through the rugged Sierra Nevada, one of the chief obstacles of the project . </P> <P> In 1852, Judah was chief engineer for the newly formed Sacramento Valley Railroad, the first railroad built west of the Mississippi River . Although the railroad later went bankrupt once the easy placer gold deposits around Placerville, California were depleted, Judah was convinced that a properly financed railroad could pass from Sacramento through the Sierra Nevada mountains to reach the Great Basin and hook up with rail lines coming from the East . </P> <P> In 1856, Judah wrote a 13,000 - word proposal in support of a Pacific railroad and distributed it to Cabinet secretaries, congressmen and other influential people . In September 1859, Judah was chosen to be the accredited lobbyist for the Pacific Railroad Convention, which indeed approved his plan to survey, finance and engineer the road . Judah returned to Washington in December 1859 . He had a lobbying office in the United States Capitol, received an audience with President James Buchanan, and represented the Convention before Congress . </P> <P> Judah returned to California in 1860 . He continued to search for a more practical route through the Sierra suitable for a railroad . In mid-1860, local miner Daniel Strong had surveyed a route over the Sierra for a wagon toll road, which he realized would also suit a railroad . He described his discovery in a letter to Judah . Together, they formed an association to solicit subscriptions from local merchants and businessmen to support their proposed railroad . </P>

By the opening of the civil war more railroads met at chicago than at any other spot on earth