When Raul Besteiro died, his casket was carried aboard a two-engine convoy of locomotives that belonged to the Brownsville Rio Grande Railway that has its depot at the Port of Brownsville.
"Mr. B," a big railroad guy, was hired as port director partly because of his love for model trains and the intricate toy railroad he kept in his playroom. He was once featured playing with his trains just before he was named port director after he had retired as the superintendent of the Brownsville Independent School District. Apparently, the port trustees were so impressed with the deft skills he exhibited with the toy track that he was the natural choice to run the shipping port. Go figure.Just after he and Solomon Ortiz were pictured on the front page of the New York Times tallying votes and pushing for the North America Free Trade Agreement in Washington, the Bridge to Nowhere $21 million scandal broke out and Mr. B's fortunes dropped like the money did into Dannenbaum's Engineering in Houston through transfers to money exchange houses in Mexico.
Anyway, after his death, the linear park on the old abandoned railroad right-of-way was established and a red caboose with the lettering "In Memory of Mr. B, Raul Besteiro" was placed next to the Brownsville Museum of Art.
A friend of mine and I were speaking to the point on one of those Farmers' Market days (a Saturday morning) and a passerby overheard us. It turned out that the guy eavesdropping on us idle chatters was none other than a training engineer at the port who disabused us of the idea that Raul was entombed in the little red caboose.
So, there. Hopefully that will stop the endless speculation that Mr. B. is in the caboose once and for all.
7 comments:
Raul Besteiro was nothing more than a "crook." With his son a possible letter in the future only proves that "thievery" runs in the family!
pues, possible this Caboose be Brownsville Tomb of the Knowns: Mr. B, Judge L, DA V, Dr G. and all the future nominees?
Y por que no ODious G enema'ed up the PUB? es en la familia, no? Y ay muchas mas...
In the immortal words deposited by of One of our recent mayors: incompetentz and crooks are people too!
Pobrecitos...
Brownsville. On The Border of Legality
It is my understanding that as soon as Raul died suddenly all of his "friends" said he took the twenty one million dollars with him that were simply misplaced. You know the twenty one million for the bridge to Mexico that was never built. That is what I have always heard.
And we should believe what the Port says because . . .
An ideal candidate because he was an aficionado of toy trains.?..that's so Brownsville. Hopefully our elected officials are maturing and will begin choosing leaders based on real qualifications, like degrees and work experience...and not hobbies!
Chooo..choooo! All aboard the Cameron County Caboose of thieves!!
He would not fit in that caboose. I heard he was buried in a grain silo
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