State law requires fences around railroad lines

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The railway track where a 9-year-old boy's feet were severed in St. Paul's North End last month was not guarded by a fence as required by Minnesota law.

Last month, St. Paul authorities say Marshawn Farr-Robinson climbed onto a slow-moving train that was traveling along railway tracks located about a block from the boy's home at Ivy Avenue West and Farrington Street. The tracks belong to Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

Police reports and fire officials say Farr-Robinson fell and the train amputated both his feet. There were two trains in the area at the time - one belonging to BNSF and another belonging to Canadian Pacific. Which train was actually involved in the incident is still under investigation according to a BNSF spokesperson and police reports. A well-worn path leads to the tracks. The path is considered to be a shortcut between two neighborhoods, despite a clearly posted no-trespassing sign on the railroad's property.

After the incident, people who live in the area expressed concern that the tracks were dangerous and should have been blocked by a fence.

While anyone who goes onto railroad property without permission is a considered a trespasser, railroads are required by Minnesota law to "build and maintain good and substantial fences on each side of all lines of its railroad." Minnesota Statute 219.31 has been on the books for about a century. It was originally written to protect livestock. But over the years Minnesota courts have said that the law is also intended to protect young children. The issue has come up in more than a half dozen legal cases involving railroads and injuries and deaths on the tracks.

Farr-Robinson's story hits very close to home for 32-year-old Andre Fisher of Brooklyn Center. When Fisher learned that the boy's feet were severed by a train, it was like hearing his own story retold.

"Kind of eerie to think of it," says Fisher.

Twenty-two years ago, the same thing happened to Fisher in almost the same way.

"Just left one of our friend's houses...waiting for the train to go past. Next thing I know I was looking at my legs and they was gone," he says.

Fisher was 9 and lost both his legs when he was hit by a train in an area which is today the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis. He crossed over the tracks from a path used by many kids as a shortcut to a nearby park. There was no fence to stop them and his life was changed in an instant.

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State law requires fences around railroad lines