And now for the story...
It was a cold, clear, dark New Year's eve long ago in the small rail yard at San Lorenzo, Arizona. The revelers had retired to their homes in the early morning to sleep off the night's celebration. The yard was silent, save for the breeze in the trees and the soft chuffing of a Porter parked at the far end of the yard.
The night watchman, Ernesto, was about to return to the warmth of his cabin when he noticed the Porter's crew had carelessly left their acetylene headlight lit. As he turned to walk down the tracks to extinguish the headlight, he saw a large shape on the mainline…a huge black bull! Reluctant to face such a creature alone, Ernesto pondered what to do. He could hear a snorting sound coming from the bull, which seemed distracted by something beyond them in the distance.
Before he could gather his thoughts, he heard a sound growing from down the tracks…a clattering, rattling, jerky-motion sound that was growing quickly. As he stared in disbelief, Ernesto saw a large dark shape pass by the Porter, backlit by the headlight. The bull, challenging, met the intruder head on.
There was a terrific bellow followed by a crash that rattled the still night. Ernesto was so surprised he fell and hit his head, and was out cold. It wasn't until villagers awakened by the commotion had come down to the tracks that he was revived. He excitedly told them what he had seen. As the crescent moon set in the western sky, they all returned to their homes to wait for what the morning would reveal.
The next morning, the scene in San Lorenzo yard looked like this:
Motor #4, the Jumping Jackalope, was found lying against a rocky ledge below the village. Its rear was damaged by the impact, and the rail bus was leaning to the fireman’s side with a broken rear axle. There was no fire, and further inspection revealed the brakes were not set. Adding to the mystery, there was no sign of the large bull that Ernesto says he saw just before the accident…only some bull hair remnants on the back of the rail bus. Why the rail bus left the main line rails on this tangent in the yard, rather than at a switch or curve, remained unresolved. Perhaps it had struck the large animal with sufficient force to direct it off the rails.
The only good news: no persons were injured, and the freight body had not been coupled to the rail bus at the time…limiting the damage. The crew swore they had set the brakes in the Sonora Grande yard earlier on New Years eve, with the engine shut down. The rail bus was not locked, however. After further questioning, railroad management concluded that the crew had indeed set the brakes. It appears sometime during the festivities, someone had snuck into the rail bus and released the brakes - causing the rail bus to begin rolling downgrade to San Lorenzo. It was surprising that it had traveled the 8 miles, negotiating some sharp curves along the way. Based on the damage to the rear of the Jumping Jackalope, they concluded it must have been moving very fast when it derailed in the yard.
The Jumping Jackalope got its name because of its long history of derailments and problems with cracked gears…locals joked that it was easier to spot a jackalope in nearby Eagle River canyon than it was to see #4 holding down its scheduled runs. Breakdowns and problems were routine. Reluctantly, after viewing the damage, the foreman concluded that they would be better off replacing Motor #4 with something more reliable. It lay among the rocks below the village as a curiosity for some time, until residents began to complain that the railroad should remove the unsightly wreckage. There were signs that bandits and other unsavory characters were using it as a refuge, and the villagers did not want a renegade stronghold right next to the jail. The wrecked rail bus had to go.
Reluctantly, the foreman arranged to have the railcar hauled back to Sonora Grande to be sold as is to the highest bidder.
Shortly after the railroad announced they would remove the wreckage, this sign appeared in San Lorenzo:
Townsfolk were buzzing with curiosity, as the town is normally a rather sleepy place, except for the occasional gunfight in the square. There was talk that two brothers wanted to open a new restaurant in town.
Ernesto and Jose Canyusee were two boys with a dream…to share their gifts for great Mexican food with the people. They asked to purchase the wrecked rail bus, and establish 'El Toro Magnifico' right there. They would convert the rail bus into a restaurant, conveniently located between the station and the village.
Here is where the intrigue begins…when they offered to buy the land from the land office, they could not get a price for the lot. The next day, the rail bus was nowhere in sight. They checked with the railroad, but were rebuffed - the rail bus was not for sale. Disillusioned and depressed, they returned home realizing their dream was slipping away.
That night, there was a private poker game in a smoke-filled back room at the Hotel Sonora Grande. The game was routine, but the topic of discussion was a shady land deal:
The next day, notices were posted around the station and village announcing the new company store for the Estrella Mining Company - to be built on the land sought by the Canyusee brothers. Very strange, indeed!
It seems that there had been a 'gentleman's agreement' between the Estrella Mining Company and the county Commissioner to save that area for construction of a new company store…but they had nothing in writing to formalize the deal. Coincidentally, the commissioner was lucky at cards that night, and agreed to the deal. Quickly, papers were drawn up in the dead of night, and the dirty deed was done.
The Canyusee brothers didn't give up, though…they found an old assay office on the other side of town for a fixer-upper price, and announced their plans to locate their restaurant there…
The El Toro Magnifico would be known, against all odds, for the best Mexican food in the entire region…and the Canyusee brothers' genius would lead to the creation of the 'chimichanga', the famous fried burrito invented in the Sonora.
In the meantime, the mining company made preparations for construction of the company store. And everyone lived happily ever after, but with perhaps a bit of indigestion if they indulged too much in El Toro's cuisine! What happened to the bull that Ernesto saw on that fateful night? Nobody really knows, but it is said that in the dead of night a distant bellowing can be heard far away.
The (optional) morals to this story are:
When choosing between youth and enthusiasm or old age and treachery, bet on old age and treachery every time!
AND/OR,
You can't stop someone with a dream to succeed!
(The new company store will be an upcoming modeling project, including full interior detail, brass chandeliers, and native American women making rugs and pots outside...stay tuned.)
