Talk:Newport Rail Bridge

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[edit] Merge two articles

The two articles are talking about the same bridge. When I was a kid, my father used to take that bridge to work, which was for the Rock Island railroad, so it definitely should be merged. DandyDan2007 08:58, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

I agree the two articles reference the same bridge. I suggest that the Rock Island Bridge might be the proper name. St. Paul Park Bridge, Newport Bridge, and the JAR Bridge (for Joan and Allen Roman, the former owners) are other names by which it was known. Living mere blocks away in IGH, I knew it as "the Toll Bridge" or "the Ashland Bridge" since it enters the refinery. Newport would probably be my last choice, since it passes below Newport, MN. Group29 19:40, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

The only reason I think it got the Newport Rail Bridge title is because the destination of the railroad was Newport, and possibly because St. Paul Park didn't go that far north when it was built. I wouldn't mind merging it to Rock Island bridge, but this article has all the bridge info and is more complete. DandyDan2007 22:30, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Toll Booth

The toll collector was (IMHO) a surly person, probably from having to repeatedly explain to disbelieving users that it actually was a "toll" bridge. The swing mechanism worked silently, and you could stand right on the edge of the roadway and watch it swing away. The roadway was barely wide enough for two cars to pass on the bridge and it could cause vertigo because of the minimal railings at the sides.

[edit] Finished merger

Finally got around to merging this article with Rock Island Bridge. I wasn't certain whether it should be here or there, so I put it here because the bridge info was here. DandyDan2007 10:49, 31 March 2007 (UTC)