Ahem..

Perhaps there is a obvious answer to this but why are some Peco Setrack Turnouts referred to as Insul "frogs"...I understand the "insul" part but "frogs" - got me on that one!

The "frog" is the part of the point where the 2 diverging rails cross. They can either be made of plastic (insulfrog) or metal (electrofrog).

Insulfrog points are easier to wire but the insulating section can leave some locos (particularly short shunters and tank engines) stranded on the insulating part if they cannot pick up electricity.

Electrofrog points are electrically conductive all the way along their length which fixes the problem. However they cause polarity reversal of diverging rails. If the point is being used for anything other than a dead-end siding, you will need to use insulating fishplates and possibly polarity switches linked to the point to ensure you do not get any short circuits.

There is a useful guide here. It is a bit wordy but well worth the read as you will get into a lot of problems with short circuits if you do nto understand the basics.

http://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/Electrical.html

Karhedron

Thanks for the explanation - always worth adding to the knowledge bank.

Although it doesn't answer my question as to the use of the word "frog" within the product name.  It has no relevance to model railways or electrics as far as I can see.

It is a "tongue-in-cheek" question as to why the word "frog" is used considering the above...

In the UK big railway the correct term is "crossing", although "frog" is used for the divergence in a tram or trolleybus wire above a set of points.  I've an idea "frog" may be American prototype parlance. 

"Frog" is indeed an american railroad term. The British term is "common crossing". When choosing product names, you can see why Peco chose to use frog.

Insul-common-crossing point is a bit a mouthful. 

Apparently it comes from the fact that if you squint and close one eye, the part looks like a pair of frog's legs.

I read somewhere that it looks like a part of the underside of a horses hoof that is also called a frog.

The second definition of frog in the online Oxford is 'A thing used to hold or fasten something'.

Is that why bricks have frogs. The cement goes in the frog and holds the brick in place ?