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A couple years ago, a U.P. train running on the ex-M&StL line from Chaska, MN to Merriam Junction, crushed a short (50’ long) timber trestle spanning a watercourse draining into the adjacent Minnesota River and dumped several cars into the water.  Due to having only one customer on the line, U.P. abandoned it rather than rebuild the trestle.  Interestingly, that same trestle was struck by lightning and set ablaze in the 1910-1915 era, and an CMStP&O freight broke through the smoldering timbers before the engineer realized the bridge was on fire. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> On that same line, there is a much larger, multiple span deck girder bridge on stone piers spanning the Minnesota River at Carver, MN.  In earlier times, the M&StL routinely had commercial divers enter the river and inspect the bedding of the stone piers.  Over the last 20 years or so, one of those stone piers has settled unevenly, apparently due to the river scouring out the bedding for the pier.    Before operations ended, that pier was tipped toward downstream so that its top was about 12”-18” out of alignment.  It was very visible as a large dip and offset in the bridge deck, and in just looking at the pier compared to the rest of the piers.  I found it hard to believe that U.P. continued to use the bridge when the pier bedding was so obviously compromised.  How could you be sure of the pier performance at any given train event when the condition of the pier was obviously changing over time?  How many degrees can you tip a GP-38 before you concentrate so much extra loading on the tipped pier that it tips further?
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