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Frog war

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The frog, a component of a railway switch, lent its name to a series of battles for railroad dominance in the 19th century.

A frog war occurs when one private railway company attempts to cross the tracks of another, and this results in hostilities between the two railways. It is named after the frog, the piece of track that allows the two tracks to join or cross and is usually part of a level junction or railroad switch.

A frog war usually begins with legal actions, such as filing lawsuits and appealing to civic transportation authorities. But often the situation escalates into physical actions, with companies pitting their workers against one another with construction projects and train movements intended to frustrate or challenge the opposing railway.

Division of costs

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It is generally the case that the second railway to arrive at an intended crossing has to bear the cost of the special trackwork needed to cross the first.[citation needed] This includes the cost of any interlocking tower or signal box. The latter is not necessarily to the disadvantage of the second railway, since it can signal its trains through the junction ahead of those belonging to the first railway, depending on who employs the signalman.[citation needed]

"Frog Wars" with oil pipelines

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In the early days of the oil industry, most oil traveled by rail. As oil pipelines became more common, railway companies often saw them as threats to their business and refused to grant permission for pipelines to cross their tracks.

Bridges and riverboats

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Abraham Lincoln participated in a celebrated court case that decided that railways had as much right to bridge rivers as the riverboat had the right to navigate those rivers.[1] Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie Canal was rendered useless by a railway bridge built across it in 1870.[citation needed]

List of frog wars

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Netherlands

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  • 1845: A disgruntled property developer purchased Van der Gaag Lane, a short road south of Delft, with the intention of sabotaging the construction of the Haarlem-Hague Railway. After a deal to acquire the property on the owner's own terms fell through, he vehemently refused to sell it or allow a crossing to be built, necessitating the circumvention of the property using a tight bend in the track.

United States

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Note: The first railroad line built is the first one named.

United Kingdom

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Bibliography

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  • Derrick, Samuel M. (1933). Centennial History of South Carolina Railroad. State Publishing Company, Columbia, SC.
  • Fetters, Thomas (2008). The Charleston & Hamburg. The History Press, Charleston, SC. ISBN 978-1-59629-420-2.

References

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  1. ^ [1] Archived January 11, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Railroad Matters. — The case of the California Pacific Railroad Company vs. the Central Pacific Railroad Company". cdnc.ucr.edu. Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 38, Number 5874. 24 January 1870.
  3. ^ "THE RAILROAD CONTROVERSY". cdnc.ucr.edu. Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 38, Number 5879. 29 January 1870.
  4. ^ "Railroad Reception". Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 38, Number 5880. 31 January 1870. As it reached the eastern end of the bridge and commenced passing across the "frog," the enthusiasm of the crowd broke out in cheers loud and frequent, expressive of the pleasure felt by Sacramentans in being able to welcome the California Pacific to the city.
  5. ^ "Stories". Hopewellvalleyhistory.org. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  6. ^ "MAY ENTER SANTA ROSA". Stockton Daily Independent. 1 February 1905. Retrieved 17 March 2023.