1853 — Apr 25, trains collide at track crossing, negligence, Grand Crossing ~Chicago, IL –18-21
Last edit on 10-23-2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–18-21 Blanchard estimate. After reading through the sources below, as well as many others not cited, we are still unsure as to the death toll. We are given to believe that there were sixteen bodies recovered by the time the Coroner’s jury convened shortly after the wreck. It was noted then that there were a number of very seriously injured among a large number in injured in local hospitals. One or more of these could have died afterwards. One German emigrant youth, whose father was among the fatalities, testified that he knew of nine people unaccounted for (which, however, does not translate into there were nine other fatalities).
There are a number of sources cited which note (with some seeming degree of certainty) that there were 18 fatalities. There are an equal number of sources which note (with the same seeming degree of certainty) that there were twenty-one fatalities.
We find no sources noting exactly 22 or 23 or 24 or 25 fatalities. Instead we find sources noting 20-25 or 16-25 or 15-20. None of these are written with sufficient detail to convince us to expand our own estimated range of 18-21 fatalities however.
–20-25 Crawford County Courier, Prairie Du Chien, WI, 5-3-1853, p. 2.[1]
–16-25 Weekly Wisconsin, Milwaukee. “The Late Railroad Collision.” 5-4-1853, p. 1.[2]
— 21 Haine. Railroad Wrecks. 1993, p. 33.
— 21 Hmurovic. “‘Pop’ Whiting and One of the Worst Accidents in Early U.S. Railroad History.” 2017.[3]
— 21 Kern. “Rogues on the Rails,” in Flight Discipline, 1998, 109-110.
— 21 National Railway Historical Society. Railroad Historical Almanac 1840-1859. 2006.
— 21 Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).”
— ~20 Fort Wayne Times and Peoples Press, IN. “Awful Rail Road Accident,” 4-27-1853, p.2.
— 20 Sunbury American and Shamokin Journal, PA. “Terrible Railroad Calamity…” 4-30-1853, p2.[4]
–15-20 New York Daily Times. “Accident on the Michigan Road.” 4-30-1853, p. 3.
— 18 Andreas. “Annals of Chicago – 1837-1857,” in History of Chicago, Vol. 1, p. 157.
— 18 Brennan, “Greater Grand Crossing: frog war turf to a hybrid cultural economy.” Upswell.
— ~18 Cincinnati Daily Gazette, OH. “The Late Collision.”5-2-1853, p. 4.[5]
— 18 Holbrook, Stewart H. The Story of American Railroads (5th printing). 1959, p. 102.
— 18 Kirkland. The Story of Chicago. 1892, pp. 217-218.
— 18 Wikipedia. “Greater Grand Crossing, Chicago.” [See Wikipedia above and below.]
— 16 Chicago Democratic Press. “Terrible Accident! Sixteen Killed….” May 4, 1853.
— 16 The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1854. P. 347.
— 15 Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950)….1853.” Accessed 10-22-2023.[6]
Narrative Information
Andreas: “April 25 occurred the first great railroad accident near Chicago. A train on the Michigan Southern collided with a train on the Michigan Central, at their crossing (at Grand Junction). Eighteen persons were killed outright, and forty of the wounded were brought to Chicago. On the 27th resolutions were passed at a meeting of the citizens, condemning the accident as owing to carelessness, and demanding that thereafter every train should come to a full stop before crossing any other railroad. This was the first time that this very essential safeguard, now universally adopted, was ever suggested.” (Andreas. “Annals of Chicago – 1837-1857,” in History of Chicago, 1884, Vol. 1, p. 157.)
Haine: “On April 25, 1853 an express train of the Michigan Southern Railroad departed Chicago at 9:00 P.M. headed for various points east. Near Adrian, Michigan the express collided broadside, under a full moon, with a Michigan Central passenger train Toledo-bound transporting German emigrants. The accident occurred at a location where the separate railroad tracks, with long straight-aways, crossed each other nearly at right angles. The locomotive and baggage car of the Michigan Southern express train and three cars of the Michigan Central were reduced to rubbish in a swamp adjoining the tracks.
“A survivor of the collision described the scene as follows:
The wreck was an immense pile of splinters, doors, and baggage, with the crushed locomotive of the express train hissing steam from its ruptured boiler. Groans and cries assailed the ears of those who hastened from the undamaged first class cars. Time will not efface the memory of that terrible and heart-rendering spectacle from the mind of the unwilling beholder. A heap of ruins, from beneath which shrieked out upon the midnight air cries for help, mingled in strong discord with the deeper groans of the dying.[7]
“Twenty-one persons were finally determined to have been killed and sixty were injured; the emigrant train produced the principal number of fatalities. The engineer, fireman, and conductor of the Michigan Southern train all escaped without injury…
“An investigation of the disaster revealed that gross negligence and stupid competition between the crews of the respective trains caused the accident. It was determined that Engineer Buckman of the Michigan Central, who had the right of way, could have prevented the collision by carefully avoiding any delays at the intersection. Instead, it appeared, he lingered in the area for the purpose of holding up the rival Michigan Southern train. It was determined, moreover, that the Central train was running at night without a regulation headlight.” (Haine. Railroad Wrecks. 1993, p. 33.)
Kern: “On April 25th, 1853, one of the worst train wrecks in history occurred due to the incompetence and ego of a well-known rogue engineer. Robert Reed, a historian who specializes in the history of train accidents, describes what occurred that fateful night at ten o’clock in the outskirts of Chicago at a place called Grand Crossing.
An eastbound Michigan Central express, headed for Toledo, rammed a Michigan Southern emigrant train broadside, killing twenty-one German emigrants. According to an eye witness, the wrecked cars lay piled up in a swamp which flanked the tracks. The scene was ‘an immense heap of iron, splinters, doors, and baggage with the crushed locomotive of the express train hissing steam from its ruptured boiler…cries assailed the ears…mingled in strong discord with the deeper groans of the dying.’[8]
“The cause of the accident was ‘gross carelessness and ignorant rivalry between the crews of both trains.’ (Reed 157). Singled out as particularly responsible was one Mr. Buckman, the engineer of the Michigan Central train, who had a reputation as a ‘me first’ engineer with an ego to match the size of his locomotive. Reed maintains that Buckman could have easily avoided the accident, ‘either by stopping or going on, but as he had the right of way, he took his time in passing through the intersection. His petty attitude of ‘me first’ took twenty-one lives.’ (157). Like many rogues, Buckman also apparently felt that the rules did not necessarily apply to him or his operation. On the night of this disaster, he was running at night without a headlight.
“From an organizational standpoint, it is understandable how this could have occurred in the mid-1850s. Railways had been extremely safe for their first twenty years of operation. In fact, between 1829 and 1853, no more than a half a dozen people had perished in any single wreck (Reed 9). But the 1850s brought on night travel and expansion. Competition was becoming tied to profit margins, and hard driving engineers like Buckman were likely seen as an asset, rather than a liability to their company. At least until April 25th.” (Kern. “Rogues on the Rails,” in Flight Discipline, 1998, pp. 109-110.)
Kirkland: “Three months after the Southern began to run…namely, on May 21, 1852, the Michigan Central made its way to the city [Chicago], by utilizing from Calumet, fourteen miles out, the track of the Illinois Central. There was a bitter fight between the two Michigan roads, the right of one road to cross the tracks of another…was not yet established and regulated by law. It was soon so established, the settlement being hastened by a deplorable calamity which occurred at the crossing the point now known as ‘Grand Crossing,’ within city limits) on April 25th 1853. The Southern, being the first in the field, denied to the other the right to cross its tracks at all; and strove by injunction to prevent it. During the legal contest it ran its road as if the other’s did not exist, passing the crossing point at full speed. This recklessness led to the natural result; two trains came together and as usual the innocent suffered from the wrong-doing of the contestants. Eighteen persons were killed out-right and some forty of the injured were brought to the city. An indignation meeting was held and a demand made that every train should come to a full stop before crossing, at grade, the track of another road. That became the rule and so continues to this day.” (Kirkland. The Story of Chicago. 1892, pp. 217-218.)
National Railway Historical Society: “April 25, 1853. A Michigan Southern express rams a Michigan Central passenger train carrying primarily German immigrants. Twenty-one persons die in the wreck at Grand Crossing, south of Chicago. Prior to this incident, no single railroad accident had claimed more than seven lives.” (National Railway Historical Society. Railroad Historical Almanac 1840-1859. 2006.)
The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1854. P. 347. “April 26. – A collision takes place on the Southern Michigan Railroad, near Chicago, Ill.; sixteen persons are killed, and fifty injured.” (Pp. 347-348.)
Wikipedia: “Greater Grand Crossing, one of the 77 official community areas of Chicago, Illinois, is located on the city’s south side. The name ‘Grand Crossing’ comes from an 1853 right of way feud between the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway and the Illinois Central Railroad that led to a frog war[9] and a crash that killed 18 people….
“Development began after a train accident in 1853 that killed 18 people and injured 40 others. The accident occurred at what is now 75th Street and South Chicago Avenue when Roswell B. Mason, who was to become a Chicago mayor, secretly had intersecting tracks built for the Illinois Central across the rail lines of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad. The intersection remained dangerous for many years after the 1853 accident, but industry developed around it as it became required for all trains to make a complete stop there.” (Wikipedia. “Greater Grand Crossing, Chicago.”)
Wikipedia: “Chicago, Illinois, United States: An eastbound Michigan Central Railroad express bound for Toledo, Ohio, rams a Michigan Southern Railroad emigrant train at level Grand Crossing on the city’s South Side at night. Twenty-one German emigrants are killed. The Michigan Southern engineer, who was running without a headlight, could have avoided the accident by either observing a stop signal or by accelerating his train, but did neither. Grand Crossing will be grade-separated after this accident.” (Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).”)
Newspapers
April 27: “Mr. Smith, of the Telegraph Office, has a dispatch to the effect that on Monday night last, an Express train from Chicago, ran into an emigrant train going west, at one of the crossings of the Michigan Central and Michigan Southern roads, by which about twenty persons were killed, and sixty wounded.” (Fort Wayne Times and Peoples Press (IN). “Awful Rail Road Accident,” April 27, 1853, 2.)
April 27: “….The following is the conclusion of the verdict of the jury:
We the jury do find and say the same within named persons came to their death by the collision which took place between the Michigan Southern and the Michigan Central railroads on the night of the 25th day of April, A.D. 1853, caused by the gross carelessness and neglect of Moses M. Tyler, conductor on the M.C.R.R., and Thos. Rackman, engineer on M.C.R.R.; also Herbert L. Whiting, conductor on the M.S.R.R. and Edward Davis, engineer on said M.D.R.R. We find and consider them guilty of gross carelessness, and hold them as the cause of the death of the within named persons, whose bodies have been laid before us. We likewise hole Mr. Jerrant, superintendent of the machine shop at Michigan city, to the public, as censurable for not furnishing the engineer of the freight or emigrant train of the Central R.R., now in question, with proper material for lights on his engine – and deem him unfit for the station he now occupies. (Dated April 27th, 1853.)”
(Janesville Gazette, WI. “The Railroad Collision.” 5-7-1853, p. 2.)
April 28: “To the Editor of the New-York Daily Times:
“The terrible catastrophe of the collision upon the Michigan Central Road near Chicago, whereby many lives have been lost and many persons seriously injured, naturally excites the inquiry as to the cause of the accident, and who is responsible for it?
“The collision occurred at a place some eight or ten miles from Chicago, where the Central Road
crosses the track of the Michigan Southern Road. The express train of the latter company left Chicago at the usual time, and, in the absence of any definite information on the subject, it is to be presumed that the emigrant train upon the Central Road was an irregular one, or one out of time, and that this was the immediate cause of the collision.
“Why the conductor of the respective trains did not perceive each other in time to avoid the collision, is not yet known.
“But the most important inquiry is, what right — what legal authority — had the Directors of the companies to have their trains at the place where the collision happened. At the crossing in question, the Southern Road (known there by the name of Northern Indiana) first constructed its road, and was the absolute owner of the land where the crowing is made, and where the collision occurred.
“After their Road was built at that point, the Michigan Central Company, (acting under the Charter of the Illinois Central Company,) without the consent of the Michigan Southern Company, and against their express objection and dissent, proceeded to construct their Road over and across the Road of the Southern Company. Knowing that this course was unsafe, and fearing the very consequence which has occurred, the Directors of the Northern Indiana Company, on the 25th of April, 1852, (just one year before the accident occurred,) by formal resolutions, demanded of the Central Company to pass the track of the Southern Company ‘by a bridge,’ as being the only safe mode, expedient to ‘be adopted,’ and ‘refused to agree to any other mode of crossing their Road except by a bridge.’
“The resolutions were duly served upon the President and Chief Engineer of the Company, and
were as follows :
The Illinois Central Railroad Company having commenced the construction of their road at a point about nine miles from Chicago, where their line as located will cross the track of the Northern Indiana and Chicago Railroad, and their Chief Engineer having made a communication as to the mode and manner of crossing the same, and whereas, the only safe mode expedient to be adopted at this place, is by a bridge to be constructed over the track of this Company:
Resolved, That the said Illinois Central Railroad Company, be notified that this Company cannot agree to any other mode of crossing their Road except by a bridge; and that this Company are ready to meet any officers or agents of said Illinois Central Railroad Company, at any convenient time and place they may designate, for the purpose of agreeing upon the mode and manner of said Company; and that if they cannot agree upon the same, this Company is ready to refer the same for adjustment in the manner provided in the Charter of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and the general laws of Illinois.
Resolved, That the Chief Engineer take all lawful measures to prevent any crossing of the track of this Company by the Illinois Central Railroad Company, until the question is finally settled, either by the agreement of the parties, or Commissioners, as provided in the law.
“The resolutions were disregarded by the Michigan Central Company, which persisted in building their road across the track of the Southern Company, upon an open prairie, in violation of their vested rights of property, and without any appraisal or other legal process, contrary to the provisions of the charter under which they were themselves acting.
“The cars of the Michigan Central Company crossed the track of the Southern Company without any legal authority. At the time of the collision, they were there as trespassers; and, as such, they are responsible before the law, and the public judgment, for all the damage to life, limb, and property, which has been occasioned by this collision.” (New York Daily-Times. “Railroad Collision at Chicago,” April 28, 1853, p. 8.)
April 30: “The Chicago Tribune gives the following account of the terrible collision on the Michigan Central Railroad by which some 15 or 20 human beings were killed, and between 50 and 60 or more or less seriously injured.” (New York Daily Times. “Accident on the Michigan Road.” 4-30-1853, p. 3.)
May 4: “Further particulars from the Chicago Tribune. – On Tuesday [May 3] at 12…the Coroner’s jury were summoned to investigate the case of the late collision on the Central Michigan and Southern Michigan Railroads. Sixteen bodies were brought before them as follows: [We rearrange in alphabetical order.]
James Dempsey, Irishman;
John Hunter Earll, American boy;
Stephen D. Gray, Wheelock, Vt.;
- H. Hoynes, German boy, 2 years old;
Thomas Lawler, Irish boy;
Edward Misener;
Herman Sildoph, German boy;
Johanna Sildoph, German woman;
Susan Smith, Little Falls, N.Y.;
Goodliss Wagner, German man;
Boy, unknown;
German child, unknown;
Man, unknown;
Man, unknown, German;
Woman, unknown;
“….Goodliss Wagner, son of the man killed, knew of nine bodies not recovered….” (Weekly Wisconsin, Milwaukee. “The Late Railroad Collision.” 5-4-1853, p. 1.)
[Another paper, picking up on a Chicago report, noted that “A man from Canada, with wife and four children, are all supposed to be killed.” (The Intelligencer, Wheeling, WV. “The Late Collision.” 5-5-1853, p. 2._
May 4: “Monday evening, as the people of Chicago wore retiring to rest, a scene of appalling horror, of excruciating suffering was occurring at the crossing of the two Michigan roads, some eight or ten miles from the city. The emigrant train on the Central was coming in and the Express train on the Southern going out, when the two came in collision under full headway, the Express train passing through the other, literally tearing it into fragments, and strewing the killed and wounded together with the wreck of the cars in heaps of indiscriminate ruin. Three, the emigrant cars, and the locomotive, tender, baggage car and one second-class passenger car of the Express train received the brunt of the shock, and their inmates were nearly, all either killed or wounded. One of the first-class passenger cars of the Express train was also thrown from the track, but fortunately, none of those within it were very seriously injured.
“The scene of confusion and horror which ensued baffles description, and can never be realized save by those who beheld it. Imagination may busy itself in picturing scenes of anguish—of strong men and lovely women and tender children, maimed and mangled, dead and dying; of shrieks which startled the midnight air, and of groans that were but a faint echo of the physical and mental anguish which the unfortunate sufferers endured. But imagination cannot equal the result as it presented itself there in the wild and desolate region where it occurred beneath the cold light of moon and stars.
“To give out readers some idea of the manner in which the collision occurred, it is necessary to state, that for some eight or ten miles from the city, the Southern Michigan road lies west of the track of the Central. – At the distance named, they cross each other at an angle – the track of the Michigan Central lying east, or rather south of the Southern for some miles when they again cross. It was at the first crossing that the accident occurred. As to the collision itself, we are not yet sufficiently informed to speak confidently. We would not visit with undeserved blame the unhappy men who were in charge of the trains. Nor would we spare them if they are blame-worthy. Let this matter be investigated with the utmost rigidity, and the blame, if any, attach were it rightfully belongs.
“Immediately after the collision occurred the locomotive of the emigrant train was detached and brought news of it to the city. In a brief space as possible Drs. Palmer and Clark were sent for and conveyed to the scene of disaster. These gentlemen administered to the suffering with their accustomed energy and skill. Towards morning the survivors were brought back to the city….
“Further Particulars.—The place at which the collision occurred is flat and swampy, and was covered with water to the depth of several inches. Some of the passengers were undoubtedly drowned. The locomotive and cars that went over were partly submerged in the water and mud, and some of the dead will hardly be recovered until these shall have been removed….” (Chicago Democratic Press. “Terrible Accident! Sixteen Killed…,” The Journal, 4 May 1853, 2.)
Sources
Andreas, A. T. History of Chicago from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Volume I – Ending With the Year 1857. Chicago: A.T. Andreas, 1884, 650 pages. Accessed 10-22-2023 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Chicago_Ending_with_the_year/R94_AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=History+of+Chicago+from+the+Earliest+Period+to+the+Present+Time,+Volume+I+%E2%80%93+Ending+With+the+Year+1857&printsec=frontcover
See, also:
http://books.google.com/books?id=wP0TAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA458&lpg=PA458&dq=Cholera+1832+burlington+vermont&source=web&ots=EU5Uhis7el&sig=-9Nvet6KFqn6dRggeZ7jxaPXSJo&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA650,M1
Brennan, Jacqueline. “Greater Grand Crossing: frog war turf to a hybrid cultural economy.” Upswell. Accessed 10-22-2023 at: https://upswellarchive.org/2019/10/02/greater-grand-crossing-frog-war-turf-to-a-hybrid-cultural-economy/
Chicago Democratic Press. “Terrible Accident! Sixteen Killed….” Reprinted in The Journal (Sheboygan, WI), 5-4-1853, p. 2, at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=34209069
Cincinnati Daily Gazette, OH. “The Late Collision.”5-2-1853, p. 4. Accessed 10-23-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cincinnati-daily-gazette-may-02-1853-p-4/
Crawford County Courier, Prairie Du Chien, WI, 5-3-1853, p. 2. Accessed 10-23-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/crawford-county-courier-may-03-1853-p-2/
Fort Wayne Times and Peoples Press, IN. “Awful Rail Road Accident.” 4-27-1853, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=40970825
Haine, Edgar A. Railroad Wrecks. New York: Cornwall Books, 1993.
Holbrook, Stewart H. The Story of American Railroads (5th printing). New York: Crown Publishers, 1959.
Hmurovic, John. “‘Pop’ Whiting and One of the Worst Accidents in Early U.S. Railroad History.” 2017. Accessed 10-23-2023 at:
https://www.wrhistoricalsociety.com/pop-whiting-railroad-accident
Janesville Gazette, WI. “The Railroad Collision.” 5-7-1853, p. 2. Accessed 10-23-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/janesville-gazette-may-07-1853-p-2/
Kern, Tony. “Rogues on the Rails,” in Flight Discipline. McGraw-Hill Professional, 1998, pp. 109-110. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=Wk1E8d0EuRYC&dq=Grand+Crossing+Train+Wreck+April+1853&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Kirkland, Joseph. The Story of Chicago. Dibble 1892, 488 pages. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=9EUVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA217&dq=Michigan+Central+Train+Wreck+1853&cd=6#v=onepage&q=&f=false
National Railway Historical Society, Inc. Railroad Historical Almanac 1840-1859. NRHS, 2006, 17 pages. Accessed at: http://www.nrhs.com/almanac/rr-almanac-1840-1859.pdf
New York Daily Times. “Accident on the Michigan Road.” 4-30-1853, p. 3. Accessed 10-23-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-daily-times-apr-30-1853-p-3/
New York Daily-Times. “Railroad Collision at Chicago,” April 28, 1853, p. 8. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2801774
Sunbury American and Shamokin Journal, PA. “Terrible Railroad Calamity…” 4-30-1853, p2.
The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1854. Boston: Phillis, Sampson, and Company. 1854. Accessed 10-22-2023 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/the_american_almanac_and_repository_of_u/BK0TAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=The+American+Almanac+and+Repository+of+Useful+Knowledge+for+the+Year+1854.&printsec=frontcover
The Intelligencer, Wheeling, WV. “The Late Collision.” 5-5-1853, p. 2. Accessed 10-23-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/wheeling-daily-intelligencer-may-05-1853-p-2/
Weekly Wisconsin, Milwaukee. “The Late Railroad Collision.” 5-4-1853, p. 1. Accessed 10-23-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/weekly-wisconsin-may-04-1853-p-5/
Wikipedia. “Greater Grand Crossing, Chicago.” Accessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Grand_Crossing,_Chicago
Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).” Accessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pre-1950_rail_accidents
Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950)….1853.” Accessed 10-22-2023 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rail_accidents_(before_1880)#1853
[1] “It was the general opinion that from 20 to 25 were killed, from 50 to 60 were seriously injured, and some of these cannot recover – the Emigrants on the Central Railroad suffered the most.”
[2] “Sixteen bodies were brought before [the Coroner’s jury].” A witness, the son of a fatality, “knew of nine bodies not recovered.”
[3] Notes: “Excerpts from One Minute After Sunrise: The Story of the Standard Oil Refinery Fire of 1955.
[4] “Adrian, Michigan, April 26. A gentleman just from the scene of the fearful collision of last night, between the Southern Michigan Express train and the Central Road Emigrant train, …reports that there were twenty dead goodies when he left, and additional deaths were constantly occurring among the fifty or sixty other injured. The sufferers were mostly emigrants.”
[5] “The dead number about eighteen, with forty to fifty wounded – some dangerously.”
[6] Cites The Chicago Tribune, IL. “Notable Chicago-area train wrecks.” 7-15-2012.
[7] Haine cites Harper’s Weekly Magazine, May 1853.
[8] Reed, Robert. Train Wrecks, p. 156.
[9] “A frog war, US usage, 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.” (Wikipedia. “Frog War.”)