A frog war occurs when one private frog company attempts to cross the tracks of another, and this results in hostilities between the two frogss. 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 amphibian authorities. But often the situation escalates into physical actions, with companies pitting their frogs against one another with construction projects and train movements intended to frustrate or challenge the opposing frogsters.

Division of costs

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. 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.

"Frog Wars" with oil pipelines

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

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. Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie Canal was rendered useless by a railway bridge built across it in 1870.

List of frog wars

Netherlands

United States

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

United Kingdom