Railroad Frog, frog it

Posted by ESC on January 12, 2002

In Reply to: Railroad Frog posted by Jim on January 12, 2002

: Intersecting railroad tracks cross through each other on a special track section called a railroad frog. Any clues how it became known as a frog other then a visual similiarly to a crushed, splayed and dried real frog?

: Some explanation if curious:
: www.romarpipeandrail.com/ turnouts__&_switch_components.htm

: or

: www.web.mit.edu/ Invent/www/InventorsR-Z/Westinghouse.html

Could it have anything to do with the use of the word "frog" as a verb as in "frog it"?

FROG - "1. To jump or hop like a frog from place to place, especially over puddles or across swamp areas." From the Yankee Talk section of the Facts on File Dictionary of American Regionalisms: Local Expressions from Coast to Coast by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 2000).

FROG - "v. 1.a. to bound or hurry; (also) to march or slog, esp. through mud or shallow water." From the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 1, A-G by J.E. Lighter, Random House, New York, 1994.