Why is a frog called a Frog?
Ditch
-John
*You are nothing until you have flown a Douglas, Lockheed or North American*
Lungshot1
Because it allows the wheels to "jump" from one set of track of rails to a
divergent route.
ED
Demetre Argiro
>Just curious....
Because it looks like a frog jumping when viewed straight on from the top. Frogs
are built up and incorporated into the turnout as it is built such that when a
frog is standing alone. . . . . . . . . . . .refer to sentence beginning. . . . .
It has nothing whatever to do with "jumping" from one track to another.
Don & Terri
This is just a guess. A switch frog is wedge shaped and if you look down at a frog frog it has the same shape. Or maybe
because the first switches were held together by Ribbits. <G>
Donnie Gene
"Before there was a high tech, there had to be a low tech" -- James Christensen
On 23 Aug 2000 08:07:14 GMT, gove...@aol.compost (Ditch) wrote:
>Just curious....
>
>
Wolf Kirchmeir
=>
=> This is just a guess. A switch frog is wedge shaped and if you look down at a frog frog it has the same shape. Or maybe
=>because the first switches were held together by Ribbits. <G>
=>
=>Donnie Gene
=>
=>"Before there was a high tech, there had to be a low tech" -- James Christensen
=>
Actually, it's called a frog because it resembles the underside of a horse's
hoof. That V-shaped area on the hoof is called a frog. Why _that_ is called a
frog, I don't know. Maybe a horse fancier can tell us. After all, this group
is about _iron_ horses. :-)
Best wishes,
Wolf Kirchmeir -- wol...@onlink.net
Blind River , Ontario
*******************************************************
Imagination is more important than reason.
(Albert Einstein)
*******************************************************
Access Systems
: This is just a guess. A switch frog is wedge shaped and if you look down at a frog frog it has the same shape. Or maybe
: because the first switches were held together by Ribbits. <G>
and if you split it your train would "Croak"
Bob
dgross
Wolf Kirchmeir wrote:
Were they Roman Charriott Horses?????????????
How wide were their ..... hooves??????
Couldn't resist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Roger T. and Heather B.
Why is it called a "frog"? I don't know but I thought the 'correct' term
for it was "crossing".
Cheers
Roger T.
Sean S.
running over the amphibian of the same name...
Sorry, couldn't resist...
Ditch
>> =>
>> =>Donnie Gene
*Groan!* :-)
Nelson Kennedy
horse and got stomped on by the hoof you would croak.
--
Nelson Kennedy,
Christchurch, New Zealand.
0 gauge NZR trains & Espee H0 at http://downunder.railfan.net
Products for 0 gauge NZR (close to 1:32) at http://ninemill.railfan.net
Wolf Kirchmeir <grey...@onlink.net> wrote in message
news:jbysxvebayvaxarg...@news.onlink.net...
> On Wed, 23 Aug 2000 09:42:33 -0400, Don & Terri wrote:
>
> =>
> => This is just a guess. A switch frog is wedge shaped and if you look
down at a frog frog it has the same shape. Or maybe
> =>because the first switches were held together by Ribbits. <G>
> =>
> =>Donnie Gene
Wolf Kirchmeir
=>Why is it called a "frog"? I don't know but I thought the 'correct' term
=>for it was "crossing".
=>
=>Cheers
=>Roger T.
That's Brit usage -- you know, the people who call ties sleepers...
JimAllbery
argi...@mindspring.com (Demetre Argiro) wrote:
> On 23 Aug 2000 08:07:14 GMT, gove...@aol.compost
> (Ditch) wrote:
> >Just curious....
> straight on from the top. Frogs
> are built up and incorporated into the turnout as it
> is built such that when a
> frog is standing alone. . . . . . . . . . . .refer to
> sentence beginning. . . . .
> It has nothing whatever to do with "jumping" from one
> track to another.
Actually, "frog" comes from the Old High German "frosk"
which in turn was derived from the pre-12th century Sanskrit
verb "pravate" which means "he jumps up" (at least according
to Webster's). So if the suggestion above is correct, I
guess it *does* have something to do with jumping.
I don't know about the elastic, v-shaped part of a horse's
hoof-- perhaps someone thought it was what made a horse able
to jump. The "frog" that is part of a violin bow remains a
mystery as well.
* Sent from AltaVista http://www.altavista.com Where you can also find related Web Pages, Images, Audios, Videos, News, and Shopping. Smart is Beautiful
E&M
shunter, ties = sleepers, frog= crossing etc.......
Cheers,
Ewen
"Wolf Kirchmeir" <grey...@onlink.net> wrote in message
news:jbysxvebayvaxarg...@news.onlink.net...
D Wetmore
horse's hoof that is known as the frog. It is wedge shaped with a groove on
either side, just like the flangeways in a switch.
Here is a prototype (horse) photo:
http://www.horseshoes.com/anatomy/freeman/gallery/hoofstructurephoto.htm
and diagram:
http://www.horseshoes.com/anatomy/freeman/gallery/hoofstructurediagram.htm
Just don't ask me why they call it a frog on a horse!
Don Wetmore
dwet...@radiks.net
Ditch wrote:
> Just curious....
Ditch
>
>Don Wetmore
>dwet...@radiks.net
>
>
>Ditch wrote:
>
>> Just curious....
>>
>> -John
>> *You are nothing until you have flown a Douglas, Lockheed or North
>American*
>
>
>
>
>
>Just don't ask me why they call it a frog on a horse!
>
>Don Wetmore
>dwet...@radiks.net
>
>
Before I scrolled down, that question was on my mind! :)
Wolf Kirchmeir
=>Not just Brits, but Canadains too. A switcher was often refered to as a
=>shunter, ties = sleepers, frog= crossing etc.......
=>
=>Cheers,
=>Ewen
Really? Where? I've never heard anything other than North American usage
here.
Could be that you've consulted a Brit-writtten book about Canadian RRs. I've
a couple of such books, and have dipped into them - they use Brit terms.
=>"Wolf Kirchmeir" <grey...@onlink.net> wrote in message
=>news:jbysxvebayvaxarg...@news.onlink.net...
=>> On Wed, 23 Aug 2000 22:13:44 -0700, Roger T. and Heather B. wrote:
=>>
=>> =>Why is it called a "frog"? I don't know but I thought the 'correct'
=>term
=>> =>for it was "crossing".
=>> =>
=>> =>Cheers
=>> =>Roger T.
=>>
=>> That's Brit usage -- you know, the people who call ties sleepers...
Jim Holland
From *Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English
Language Unabridged* 1967, it seems that the languages from which the
English word *frog* is taken literally means *jumping, hopping.*
While it is true that there is such a *part* on a horse, I would really
wonder if that is where the railway usage came from.
Besides "any of various smooth-skinned web-footed tailess agile leaping
amphibians" and the horse-hoof part, a *frog* is also a device attached
to a belt for holding a weapon or tool; a front fastening for a garment;
a shallow place for mortar in the upper face of a brick; the frame or
block to which the share, moldboard, landside, or beam of a plow are
secured; the nut of a violin bow; junction of two branches of a flume;
etc.; etc.; etc.
I would *assume* that the use of *frog* in railway track (and trolley
pole overhead) came about from the very initial definition - the wheel
is jumping over another rail - but fortunately, the *frog* has been
designed to allow that jump to be very smooth!
D Wetmore wrote:
> A switch frog is called a frog because it is shaped like the central part of a
> horse's hoof that is known as the frog. It is wedge shaped with a groove on
> either side, just like the flangeways in a switch.
> Here is a prototype (horse) photo:
> http://www.horseshoes.com/anatomy/freeman/gallery/hoofstructurephoto.htm
> and diagram:
> http://www.horseshoes.com/anatomy/freeman/gallery/hoofstructurediagram.htm
> Just don't ask me why they call it a frog on a horse!
> Don Wetmore
> dwet...@radiks.net
James B. Holland
Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo), 1930 -- 1950
To e-mail privately, please click here: mailto:pgh...@pacbell.net
N.M.R.A. Life member #2190; http://www.mcs.net:80/~weyand/nmra/
Dick Ganderton
modellers - for that part of a turnout properly called the "Common
Crossing". This is made up of four rails - one point, one splice and two
wing rails. The point and splice rails are bolted together to form the
"Vee".
Wolf Kirchmeir wrote:
>
> On Wed, 23 Aug 2000 22:13:44 -0700, Roger T. and Heather B. wrote:
>
> =>Why is it called a "frog"? I don't know but I thought the 'correct' term
> =>for it was "crossing".
> =>
> =>Cheers
> =>Roger T.
Jon Miller
NMRA Bulletin.
The other two inventions that George Westinghouse contributed to
railroading. Frogs for switches (turnouts) and re-railing frogs! If George
invented it he probably named it!
Jon Miller
being the NMRA they would have checked the answer closer. But then it is a
long time ago. Attempted to do a search on the web site but it only goes
back to 1976.
It is possible he had a patent on a type of frog and not sure how that
would have been handled between UK and US at that time in history.
E&M
generations. Even one of my cousins was that last conductor on the very last
train before the line shut down tin 1989. They called ties sleepers or
ties, switchers were shunters or switchers that went out shunting, etc....
It was not some book I read. Maybe the strong British influence. The line
was first built in colonial days and the first engines were British as in
many other parts of the country, but were found to be too light and later
replaced by American 4-4-0s.
Cheers,
Ewen
Wolf Kirchmeir" <grey...@onlink.net> wrote in message
news:jbysxvebayvaxarg...@news.onlink.net...
> On Thu, 24 Aug 2000 23:44:34 -0300, E&M wrote:
>
> =>Not just Brits, but Canadains too. A switcher was often refered to as a
> =>shunter, ties = sleepers, frog= crossing etc.......
> =>
> =>Cheers,
> =>Ewen
>
> Really? Where? I've never heard anything other than North American usage
> here.
>
> Could be that you've consulted a Brit-writtten book about Canadian RRs.
I've
> a couple of such books, and have dipped into them - they use Brit terms.
>
> =>"Wolf Kirchmeir" <grey...@onlink.net> wrote in message
> =>news:jbysxvebayvaxarg...@news.onlink.net...
> =>> On Wed, 23 Aug 2000 22:13:44 -0700, Roger T. and Heather B. wrote:
> =>>
> =>> =>Why is it called a "frog"? I don't know but I thought the
'correct'
> =>term
> =>> =>for it was "crossing".
> =>> =>
> =>> =>Cheers
> =>> =>Roger T.
> =>>
> =>> That's Brit usage -- you know, the people who call ties sleepers...
D Wetmore
If you have any doubts about the origin, go to a local stable and ask to see the
bottom of a horse's hoof. Once you see the frog on a horse, there will be no doubt
in your mind that it was the origin of the railroad term. I should know. We own two
horses, and I clean their hooves on a regular basis. To do this requires a tool
called a hoof pick. It has a narrow head in order to clean out the "flangeways" of
the hoof (actually called bars), which are shaped exactly like the flangeways in a
switch frog. If you stop and think about it, it really makes a lot of sense. Back in
the 1820's-30's when railroads came on the scene, most people were very familiar
with horses as a necessity of day to day living. When they saw a railroad switch
they would have made an immediate assocation with the similar part on a horse.
If you have any remaining doubt check out the following: Once again look at the hoof
diagram and notice that the wide part at the back of the frog is referred to as the
heel. Then crack open your dictionary again and see that in railroad terminology the
end of a frog farthest from the switch (the wide part) is also known as the heel.
Coincidence? I think not.
Jumping amphibians (or wheels) had nothing to do with it.
Don Wetmore
dwet...@radiks.net
NMRA life member #2946
Jim Holland
I have no doubt about a horse having a frog in his hoof and the way
that it looks (cheese-whiz, I did quote that part from the dictionary!)
-- but that doesn't mean that the railroad frog was named for
*that-part* of the horse' anatomy!!::>) Could have been, but I would
like a little more evidence to back it up - and looking at the hoof of a
horse is not going to do it! Railroad journals with such information
would be far more conclusive.
One can also say that the 4-pieces of rail emanating from a railroad
frog look like an out-stretched amphibian-frog jumping and that is the
reason it is called a frog!
Martin Fouts
'frog' came to be a railroading term, but it does cite the first use of the
term as being in a 1847 patent, suggesting that while Westinghouse may have
invented and patented some form of frog, he doesn't seem to have coined the
term.
I have found "The frog and switch" company on the net -- They don't make
frogs any more, but they claim they did for 100 years, so I sent an email to
them asking if they could shed any light on the origin of the term. I'll
report back if I hear from them.
TOM <tom...@home.com> wrote in message news:39A736AC...@home.com...
> Some of old George's inventions, etc.:
>
> http://www.westinghouse.com/corp/george.shtml
>
> Observing the problems and limitations of stopping trains by
> manually-operated brakes, he devised a method of using brakes
> actuated by compressed air. He turned this idea into the
> Westinghouse Air Brake Company, founded in 1869.
>
> Then with the vast increase in rail traffic and development of
> railroad yards, he recognized the need for better signaling devices
> and interlocking switches. He believed that great improvements
> could be made by using a combination of compressed air and
> electricity. He turned those ideas into the Union Switch and Signal
> Company, founded in 1881.
> --------------------------
>
> http://www.comptons.com/encyclopedia/ARTICLES/0175/01942272_A.html
>
> Westinghouse was born on Oct. 6, 1846, in Central Bridge,
> N.Y. The son of a manufacturer of farm implements, he explored
> the world of machines at an early age. After serving in both the
> Union Army and the Navy in the Civil War, Westinghouse
> received in 1865 his first patent--for a rotary steam engine. In that
> same year he invented a device for replacing derailed freight
> cars on their tracks.
>
> Railroad problems fascinated Westinghouse. Among his other
> inventions was a device called a frog that allowed wheels on one
> rail of a track to cross an intersecting rail. He bought various
> patents on railroad switches and signals and combined them
> with his own developments into an efficient switching system. He
> also devised safe methods to distribute natural gas.
>
> The air brake, his greatest invention, was patented in 1869, the
> same year he organized the Westinghouse Air Brake Company.
> With various design improvements, the air brake became widely
> accepted, and the Railroad Safety Appliance Act of 1893 made
> them compulsory on trains in the United States.
> ---------------------------------
>
> <><><> TOM <><><>
> Proud Member Of The Haggis
>
Christopher A. Lee
Considering he was born in 1846 and they had been in use in
1838 to my knowledge (on the GWR although they weren't called
frogs), he muust have been a very precocious child.
Frank A. Rosenbaum
stars below.
--
Frank R.
Note New EMAIL address: faros...@mediaone.net
Jim Holland <pgh...@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:39A6DA...@pacbell.net...
> Greetings!
>
> From *Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English
> Language Unabridged* 1967, it seems that the languages from which the
> English word *frog* is taken literally means *jumping, hopping.*
> While it is true that there is such a *part* on a horse, I would really
> wonder if that is where the railway usage came from.
> Besides "any of various smooth-skinned web-footed tailess agile leaping
> amphibians" and the horse-hoof part, a *frog* is also a device attached
> to a belt for holding a weapon or tool; a front fastening for a garment;
> a shallow place for mortar in the upper face of a brick; the frame or
> block to which the share, moldboard, landside, or beam of a plow are
> secured; the nut of a violin bow; junction of*** two branches of a
flume***;
> etc.; etc.; etc.
>
> I would *assume* that the use of *frog* in railway track (and trolley
> pole overhead) came about from the very initial definition - the wheel
> is jumping over another rail - but fortunately, the *frog* has been
> designed to allow that jump to be very smooth!
>
> D Wetmore wrote:
>
> > A switch frog is called a frog because it is shaped like the central
part of a
> > horse's hoof that is known as the frog. It is wedge shaped with a groove
on
> > either side, just like the flangeways in a switch.
>
> > Here is a prototype (horse) photo:
> > http://www.horseshoes.com/anatomy/freeman/gallery/hoofstructurephoto.htm
>
> > and diagram:
> >
http://www.horseshoes.com/anatomy/freeman/gallery/hoofstructurediagram.htm
>
> > Just don't ask me why they call it a frog on a horse!
>
> > Don Wetmore
> > dwet...@radiks.net
TOM
Nelson Kennedy
> frog look like an out-stretched amphibian-frog jumping and that is the
> reason it is called a frog!
Any thoughts as to why the sharp end of a turnout got lumbered with toe(d)?
:-)
All Green Ahead
<nel...@chch.planet.org.nz> wrote:
>>> One can also say that the 4-pieces of rail emanating from a railroad
>>> frog look like an out-stretched amphibian-frog jumping and that is the
>>> reason it is called a frog!
>>
>>Any thoughts as to why the sharp end of a turnout got lumbered with toe(d)?
>>:-)
At least they used bolts and not ribbits to fasten the frog to the
rail.
sam
Don Dellmann
D Wetmore <dwet...@radiks.net> wrote in message
news:39A73780...@radiks.net...
> Jim -
> If you have any remaining doubt check out the following: Once again look
at the hoof
> diagram and notice that the wide part at the back of the frog is referred
to as the
> heel. Then crack open your dictionary again and see that in railroad
terminology the
> end of a frog farthest from the switch (the wide part) is also known as
the heel.
> Coincidence? I think not.
>
> Jumping amphibians (or wheels) had nothing to do with it.
>
I'd forgotten about the heel. When you add that to the equation, I think
this is the most logical explanation yet. Add still another fact, since the
first tramways were horse drawn.....
"By George, I think he's got it"
Don
--
Don Dellmann
don.de...@prodigy.net
http://www.geocities.com/don_dellmann
--
moderator WisMode...@egroups.com
All Green Ahead
<dom.de...@prodigy.net> wrote:
>
>>I'd forgotten about the heel. When you add that to the equation, I think
>>this is the most logical explanation yet. Add still another fact, since the
>>first tramways were horse drawn.....
Maybe they named the frog of a horse after the frog in the
turnout...
not.
sam