Wednesday, July 13, 2011

El Numero Ocho

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My grandfather, Roman Benavidez, was born on 28 February, 1874 in El Gusano, New Mexico. Today that is South San Isidro in San Miguel County. He worked at many jobs, and one was for the AT&SF, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. By the time I remember him  in Rowe, New Mexico in the mid 1950's he was in his 80's.

Every day he would watch as the trains went by, when "El Numero Ocho" would pass he would reach into his pocket and pull out his pocket watch out and reset it. No Greenwich Mean time for him, no daylight savings time for him, just the scheduled time of El Numero Ocho.