A Frog by any other Name...

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Tom Macrery
Posts: 308
Joined: 26 Jan 2007, 08:47
Location: Pretoria, South Africa

A Frog by any other Name...

Post by Tom Macrery »

John recently sent me a website which discussed the origin of the term frog as in points. I forget all their arguments and have unfortunately deleted the site, and cannot find it back again. But I always thought that frog was an apt name because of the orientation of the crossing rails, two opposite very acute angles and two opposite very obtuse angles. This seems to mimic the orientation of actual frogs' legs.

While Googling frog and railway, I came upon something very interesting, again new to me. Did you know there were 'Frog Wars'? No, nothing to do with the French, and nothing to do with the amphibian. But actually to do with railways! Especially in the States in the 19th century when one railroad wanted to cross the tracks of another railroad (not to merge with it), it had to rebuild a short section of the original tracks to lay their own across it; and this, of course, needed frogs. This caused hostilities, thus Frog Wars. Often a rail company would build quickly and in an alignment just to block a competitor. The second company would have to bear the costs of the special track work and the necessary signal systems on both lines. There were many of these Frog Wars in the States in the second half of the 19th century, but even some in Britain. Who would have guessed? You learn something every day.
Attachments
A frog usually has a guard rail associated with it for increased safety.
A frog usually has a guard rail associated with it for increased safety.
120px-Eisenbahnweiche_detail.jpg (4.72 KiB) Viewed 2170 times
A frog at Capital Park.
A frog at Capital Park.
jssm_copy_of_img_0006.jpg (89.17 KiB) Viewed 2171 times
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John Ashworth
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Location: Nairobi, Kenya
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Re: A Frog by any other Name...

Post by John Ashworth »

See http://groups.google.com/group/uk.railw ... 1cbba9655f#

The question was asked:
As I understand it the word "frog" is used in railway pointwork as
follows :-

We are going along a railway track, the left hand rail at the left,
and the right hand rail at the right. Now we come to points. Let us
say the fork is to the left. So, a second right hand rail arises and
crosses over the left hand rail of the straight ahead route. That
point where the left hand rail of the straight ahead route joins the
right hand rail of the left route backside to backside in a V is
called "the frog".

Why is the word "frog" used, and why does the word mean the *whole*
(rather than part of) a trolleybus wiring point? ( trolleybus wiring
points are basically an upside-down railway points)
Suugestions include:
I believe the term "frog" is derived from the appearance of the
triangular assemblage of rails which recalls the frog of a horse's
hoof. The frog is a part of a horse's hoof, located on the underside,
which should touch the ground if the horse is standing on soft
footing. The frog is triangular in shape, and extends from the heels
to mid-way toward the toe, covering around 25% of the bottom of the
hoof.
Supplementary question: Who brought the term into railway use, and
why? It seems to be an enthusiast term, rather than an industry term
(where "nose" is frequently used, and "heel" not so frequently), at
least in the present day.
A blacksmith, perhaps? Someone who made both horseshoes and parts for railway points?
I think also known as a common crossing. Far more logical
I believe in the case of the horse's hoof, the term "frog" (at least
according to my dictionary) derives from the archaic French "fourche"
meaning fork which entered the English language by way of military
terminology. In the case of the trolleybus, the "point" is no more
than a fork in the wire, with or without a moveable guide. It is
therefore plausible that there may be a connection via this source,
especially if the person who first coined the name may have been of
military background. This is pure speculation on my part of course and
I do not lay claim to any expertese in the subject.
Certainly within the UK professionally, it is known as a common
crossing. Frog seems to be used professionally in the USA.
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Nathan Berelowitz
Posts: 2196
Joined: 25 Jan 2007, 14:17
Location: Pretoria, South Africa

Re: A Frog by any other Name...

Post by Nathan Berelowitz »

I think I will just hop over to another topic!
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