LACEY, Wash. — There are plenty of warnings on the road leading to it. But no matter how many signs they put up, the Mullen Monster takes its toll. This 12-foot train trestle spanning Mullen Road is good at taking out trucks. It has deep scrape scars along its ceiling to prove it.
It's so adept at destruction there are two places on Facebook dedicated to documenting the carnage. Amelia Martin started Mullen Road Train Trestle Versus the World a few years ago. It's clear who's winning.
"Um, I think the trestles winning," Martin said.
Posts praise the tough trestle and shame stuck trucks.
"I think honestly a lot of people like to watch the destruction and we all think it's a little silly because there are four signs saying 'don't do this,' we have flashing lights on them. And yet people are like, 'That's not for me.'" Martin said.
The group has more than 9000 members all over the world, from Lacey to Korea. But it's not the only one dedicated to this battered bridge. Brandon Sparks used to live near the trestle.
"We used to drive underneath this bridge every day and my kids and I would always joke that it's the monster and likes to eat things," he said.
That joke led Sparks to build The Mullen Monster Facebook Page. It keeps a running tally of the trucks the bridge eats. Twelve in 2022.
"I've always had this idea in my head that it had teeth and had a personality and all that so I decided to give it one and create the page, and design the logo and give it a face and everything," said Sparks, who even designed a Mullen Monster sticker, complete with box trucks with peeled back tops on it.
"A symbol of its victims," he explained.
The trestle already claimed it's first victim of 2023 in early January — the person who posted the squashed semi trailer to Mullen Train Trestle Versus the World proclaiming, "She was fed!!!"
Brandon Sparks and Amelia Martin don't want to see anyone hurt. But they also say that as long as the Mullen Monster continues to feed on folks who ignore the warning signs, they will continue to keep track of those snacks on social media.
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