In American railroading, a frog war occurs when a private railroad company attempts to cross the tracks of another, and this results in hostilities, with the courts usually getting involved, but often long after companies have taken the matter in their own hands and settled, with hordes of workers battling each other. 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.
Sometimes the first railroad was built specifically to delay the completion of the second.
Read more about Frog War: Division of Costs, "Frog Wars" With Oil Pipelines, Bridges and Riverboats
Famous quotes containing the words frog and/or war:
“A frog in love would not be enchanted to learn that her beloved had turned into Prince Charming.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Testimony of all ages forces us to admit that war is among the most dangerous enemies to liberty, and that the executive is the branch most favored by it of all the branches of Power.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)