When the Skytrail monorail system debuted in September 1979 just a little over a year after the larger opening of the Minnesota Zoo (née the Minnesota Zoological Garden), it was positioned as the (non-living, breathing) attraction at the shiny new facility located just south of the Twin Cities in suburban Apple Valley. The Skytrail, however, was beset with a host of headline-grabbing headaches from early on including early engineering and financing hiccups followed by a lukewarm reception from zoo guests after its (delayed) opening. Over the next three decades, the system, which afforded guests with a birds-eye view of the zoo’s sizable outdoor Northern Hemisphere habitats, was
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