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Tragedy of tragedies! My favorite drinking bridge--the railroad bridge spanning the Mississippi between Franklin and Lake--burned down overnight, and officials say the probable cause was fireworks. Check out the WCCO article for dramatic photos.
I had some good times on that bridge this summer...it was one of those magical spots in Minneapolis. Of course, it was technically illegal to be on the bridge, a point underlined for me a couple weeks when a date with a boy, complete with Stella Artois and Santana's hamburgers, was interrupted by the Minneapolis Park Police.
Now to add to my impending court date for trespassing, I'll have to stomach the loss of my favorite drinking bridge.
One day, all f Minneapolis will burn down, and it will also be because of fireworks. I'm surprised the Mississippi hasn't caught fire more times than the Cuyahoga.
The lord can make you tumble, the lord can make you turn
The Lord can make you overflow
But the Lord can't make you burn.
Burn on, big river, burn on.
What are you doing drinking on the railroad bridge? Hasn't it been pounded into your head since elementary school to not go on railroad bridges?
You have a U of M e-mail address. How do you think you are reflecting on the U?
Idiots.
Burning train bridges, out of control wildfires in the Boundary Waters, the Twins winning 27 of their last 34 games -- Minnesota is en fuego!
"Burned," but not "burned down." It's still there; I drove past it this morning. Granted it can't be used for awhile and needs repair, but it is not burned down.
I think that after a bridge gets burned, it's burnt?
English majors ....
.... I know there's some out there.
I did not know children were allowed to post to MNSpeak.
Children by age or mental capacity?
Because if we don't allow people with the mental capacity of children to post this deal will shrivel up and die like a worm on a Tempe sidewalk.
Typically in American English, "burnt" is used an adjective, not as a past-tense form of the verb "burn."
The bridge is burnt.
Last night, the bridge burned down. Or just burned. As someone pointed out, it is still up.
So it burned up.
I vote the Soo Line High Bridge north of Stillwater. It's a mile long, 200 feet high, and has a spectacular view of the sunset in the valley. It also has a sketchy railing, which puts it one notch up in safety - plus, there's a fantastic rope swing underneath.
jeffk, aren't you concerned about how you are making all the other jeffs out there look by your choice to hang out on bridges?
kili is going to be so ashamed of you.
kili: I don't think the problem is people who go on rr bridges - or even the ones that fall of and die. It's the ones that fall off, die, and then have families that sue.
Well, I'm really only making the other jeffks look bad. But I talked it over with them, and have their consent to act as our representative.
Well River Phoenix hung out on a railroad bridge and look how he truned out!
On the burned vs. burnt controversy: both are acceptable as the past participle of burn. Burnt is more common in English English; burned in American English.
Wasn't that bridge supposed to be part of the Midtown Greenway Bikepath? I hope that's still the plan.
Although I think drinking up there is extremely dangerous, it's pretty safe if you are careful and watch your step. it would be pretty hard to fall off unless you were standing along the edges or something.
i go up there a lot and it's too bad some ignorant people have to ruin that bridge for everyone else.
Wasn't that bridge supposed to be part of the Midtown Greenway Bikepath? I hope that's still the plan.
Won't catch me biking on a bridge like that no way no how.
Oh yeah, well, so did Jerry O'Connell. And he went from the Fat Kid on Stand By Me to the guy dating Rebecca Romijn. Sign me up for hanging out on train bridges!
Good lord, some dink cost the city $200,000 in repairs and put firefighters lives in danger because of a few bottle rockets?! I hope that person fell off the edge.
and just for the record, it's not like you have to run off the bridge when a train comes. they don't come by very often and if they did, half of the bridge isn't used by trains anymore. it has one of the best views of the skyline and the river, can't be beat.
The railroad bridge is owned by a railroad, so they'll pay to fix it (or their insurance company will).
For my part, no more drinking on bridges! From now on, I'll imbide on the river bank itself, by that sewage outflow pipe.
From Garner's DMAU:
burn > burned > burned.
As a ver, burnt is a chiefly BrE form, usually the past participle but sometimes the past tense. In AmE, burntis almost exclusively an adjective. [burnt orange] [burnt rubber]
EmilyM-
You do know you are trespassing right? Putting yourself in danger?
ACTING FOOLISHLY?
AGGRAVATING KILI?!?!?!?!?!
Yes I know I am trespassing. I take the risk of getting caught and would pay the price for trespassing if I were caught. People break the law all of the time, but spending time on the bridge is worth the risk of a fine. And I have never felt like my life is in danger up there. I stay several feet from the edge and am always sober.
And it's not foolish, it's beautiful. There are few undisturbed places left in Minneapolis to just take in the city, watch the sun set and feel like you have a place of your own. It's hard to explain to people who have never seen it, but I've taken people young and old and they are amazed and enjoy spending time up there regardless.
Emily M., good thing you don't have an email address, otherwise you'd be reflecting badly on your internet service provider.
I used to work for Burlington Northern Railroad until the merger and relocation down to Fort Worth.
Believe me, if you think you are safe on there, you are wrong. You have a false sense of safety. There are other beautiful places in the Twin Cities to take in the view, but trespassing onto private property illegally is not one of them.
Ever seen Action Squad? People adventure into much more dangerous and illegal places than a railroad bridge.
Not to break up the grammar lessons or anything, but the fire was over the weekend, not overnight.
And I suppose you think that other people adventuring into more dangerous and illegal places justifies your behavior?
Oh kili.
What's with the mother hen routine? Not very white-belt behaviour.
I'm guessing kili's kids were hermetically sealed in bubbles at birth and will only be let out to attend a nice safe religiously affiliated college.
I used to drink at night on the Stone Arch Bridge back when you had to climb a fence to do so. Not as fun now.
What do religious affiliated colleges have to do with anything? My eldest son will be attending UMD this upcoming fall. Hardly a religious school, and it's not exactly nearby either. However, I wouldn't tolerate my children practicing illegal behavior, and they would have to face the consequences if they did.
And what's with pro-illegal behavior here? Did you ever stop to think that perhaps the railroad put those rules in for a reason (watch the movie Fried Green Tomatos for one example of a grisly death on tracks)? Or that colleges don't want students in steam tunnels for obvious reasons (burning hot pipes, lack of proper ventilation, lack of human activity for probably weeks at a time)?
It's called common sense. Something that is in short supply around here.
If the U of M cared about its students' safety, it would do something about the feral squirrels that kill 20-30 students per year.
No, the U wants to keep students out the steam tunnels because the administration is afraid that students will find the remnants of the utopian society built by Everett Fraser in the 1930s. And seeing that shit is worth meeting a grisly end, believe you me.
Nothing wrong with fireworks, drinking, or beautiful places. I live in Seward and I can tell you that too many people who enjoy these things along the riverfront leave a less than beautiful mess that the rest of us have to see and clean up. Railroad bridges, private property, and safety are not the issue, ignorance and irresponsibility are the issue...
It's not a big problem, but there are enough accidents and deaths along the riverfront to indicate that some people do take it to the extreme.
The Greenway stops at the river...but hopefully it will bring more visibility to the riverfront so that intelligence and responsibility might be encouraged.
MNSpeak needs to add a banner photo from this bridge.
Nah. MNSpeak has too many Minneapolis headers as it is. We need more from St Paul and around the state.
Kili Kili bo bili banana fana fo fili!!!!!!!
Hilarious!!! this string made my day. (sad, i know)
I've seen Dean Fraser's secret underground utopia, and I was not impressed. For one thing, everybody speaks Esperanto, so the only moive you can watch is William Shatner's Incubus.
Drinking on bridges is great. Who cares about some kids having a date on a bridge? Good for them. It sounds like it would be really neat. The jerks who were blowing off fireworks, well that's different. Growing up, I often hung around with my friends on a railroad bridge near Chicago . It was beautiful and I'm not dead or stupid, but close. I'm a lawyer; maybe that bridge convinced me to go to law school and ruin my life.
Kili = humorless conformist
Potato, will you represent me in Hennepin County District Court tomorrow at 8:30 am? Its for my citation for trespassing on that wonderful bridge! Please? I can pay you in six packs...
I live by this bridge, and went on the catwalk once. I almost died. But, overall..I love it. It is the best place in Minneapolis.
i love the bridge, too. the catwalk is intense, but it's nice just to sit on the support pillars and watch the river. i'm sad the bridge was burned (whatever) and that the rail road company has to fix it. i'm also sad it means i can't go back there for a while.
and i'm sad that kili doesn't understand why people go up there. we know it's illegal, but some things are worth it. some beauty in the world you just can't find from standing behind a chain link fence with traffic behind you. kili's words make me doubt that people like that can appreciate all of the beauty the world has to offer.
yes, safety and common sense should always be traveling companions, but what kind of world would this be without a little recklessness or curiousity? no one has ever died in the u steam tunnels. not one of the explorers in the action squad has died. the one death i know about that was a result of not using common sense was when a u student fell off the bunge tower.... at night.... intoxicated.... without a flash light.... yes, that is stupidity. but not the kind found in the people discussing this.
zen- i really like your photos.
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