Lansing — Sonnets are written about it, sandwiches named after it and people dress like it — and not just for Halloween.

The focus of the attention is, of all things, a bridge. And not one with the romance of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, the beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco or the grandeur of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia.

No, this span in Lansing is known for pulverizing trucks.

The rail bridge, which has a 12-foot clearance, peels off vehicles’ roofs, crumples them like accordions or stops them cold as they become wedged beneath it.

It happens with such startling frequency that it has caught the fancy of the capital city.

The phenomenon bequeathed something the bridge has never had during its 97 years — a name. Locals call it Big Penny, after the stree

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