The switches are so high it's not possible to see how they function on the ground. I really tried to look up information about this on the internet, but there's very little info available, and the info that is there is incomplete. I saw this diagram but still don't understand how the switch works.

It seem simple to have a trolley pole follow the wire, it is simply U shaped and a spring pulls it up, so that force is applied against the wire. However I cannot possibly imagine how does the switches function, mechanically speaking. Also, how do they prevent a short-circuit at the switches' frog where both poles touches each other.

Also, back when tramways (UK: tram, US: streetcar or trolley) also had a trolley pole, did they have switches using the same mechanics as in a trolleybus switch?