BLE Feature

Winter 2002
Volume 109 - No. 4

Making wishes come true

Inspired by his child's illness, a BLE member helps to make other children's dreams come true

Some of the children who were on the train trip organized by Kyer

When Scott Kyer was four years old, he was diagnosed with cancer. Scott's brain tumor was successfully removed and today he is a healthy, active 11-year-old. But his father, BLE Division 647 (Phoenix, Ariz.) Secretary-Treasurer Ken Kyer, never forgot how it felt to get the news that his son had a life-threatening illness.

For the past three years, Brother Kyer has organized a special "Make A Wish" passenger train for kids who are faced with some type of medical challenge.

The most recent trip took place on November 16, 2002. At approximately 9:30 a.m., the train took off from the Mobest Yard in Phoenix, Ariz., and headed for the Old Glendale Depot to pick up its passengers. There were about 300 passengers this year, including children and their families from the Center for Burns and Trauma in Phoenix and the American Cancer Society's Arizona Camp Sunrise, for children who have, or have had, cancer, as well as a multitude of volunteers.

Each year, the train travels from Glendale to Wickenburg, Ariz., by way of the scenic Wickenburg Canyon. Running time from the depot to Wickenburg is about one hour and 35 minutes each way.

Kyer spends about 10 months of the year organizing the train and its crew. This year's train consisted of two locomotives, back to back, three business cars, a full length dome car, and a Valley View lounge car, all provided by BNSF. In addition, the Arizona Railway Museum in Chandler, Ariz., provided seven passenger cars.

Volunteers from the Arizona Railway Museum worked as car attendants under the supervision of Museum President Bart Barton. BNSF Engineer Kyer, as well as the conductor and two brakemen, all donated their time to operate the train.

During the train ride, passengers were provided with drinks and bottled water to accompany the sack lunches they brought along. BNSF provided paper engineer hats to all the kids, and Operation Lifesaver of Arizona handed out coloring books, pins, and information about safety around railroad tracks. BLE Special Representative Ken Kroeger also arranged to have some BLE items donated for the passengers and crew.

"It takes a lot of time and effort to organize this," said Kyer. "But it's worth it when you see the kids getting off the train with a big smile. That's the only paycheck the crew needs."

Photo caption: Brother Kyer before the trip.

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