A park that once shared a porous border with rail tracks is now separated by a chain-link fence that was not up when a boy had part of a leg severed this spring by a passing train.
Fence goes up by tracks where train severed Mpls. boy's leg
Quentin Moore, 11, was injured while playing on the tracks in April. Until Wednesday afternoon, the barrier had a ladder as part of its construction.
June 9, 2016 at 2:23AM
The newly constructed 8-foot-high fence runs along the northern edge of Webber Park and the tracks owned by Canadian Pacific Railway.
And until Wednesday afternoon, it included a ladder that offered unrestricted access to the tracks.
On April 16, 11-year-old Quentin Moore and two friends, boys ranging in age from 10 to 13, had been hopping on and off a slow-moving freight train along the Canadian Pacific Railway line that passes near 44th and Bryant avenues N., police said.
Quentin fell, his right leg was severed below the knee and his left leg was badly injured. He also suffered head injuries.
Dawn Sommers, spokeswoman for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, expressed appreciation for the railway's response.
"I think the board always wants to have safe access to our parks, and I think it's a good idea that the fence was put up," Sommers said Tuesday.
The fence has no trespassing signs and until Wednesday afternoon included a ladder as part of its construction that offered to anyone easy access to the tracks. At the ladder's top was a sign that reading, "Stop! State law forbids trespass to this railway property."
Canadian Pacific spokesman Andy Cummings said Wednesday morning that the three-week-old fence's ladder was "only a temporary feature." Sure enough, a few hours later "we added further protection to prevent anyone from accessing the right-of-way via the aluminum bars," Cummings said.
Star Tribune staff writer Tim Harlow contributed to this report. Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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