Question

Who was an engineer who lobbied Congress to pass the Transcontinental Railroad Act but died before the railroad was finished? Asa Whitney Theodore Judah Thomas Durant Abraham Lincoln

Answer 1

It was Theodore Judah. 

Answer 2

I believe the answer is: Theodore Judah

Because of people's unfamiliarty with the technology that Judah proposed, he got the 'Crazy Judah' as nickname. He was the central figure of the initial development of the first transcontinental railroad and the first person who came up and collection enough investment to started the project.