CLEVELAND, December 23 — He’s not Santa Claus, but Brother K.C. Kyer, a BNSF locomotive engineer and Local Chairman of BLET Division 647 (Phoenix, Ariz.), has spent the last nine years helping to make wishes come true for hundreds of children.
Brother Kyer volunteers, organizes and operates a unique passenger train ride each year for seriously ill and/or needy children in the Phoenix area. The special train ride is a cooperative effort with the BNSF Railway and the Make A Wish Foundation.
But it was Brother Kyer who got the wheels rolling.
He organized the first train ride in 2000 when his five-year-old son, Scott, was diagnosed with his first of two brain tumors. He endured a second in 2005.
“We were taking him to see a doctor about migraine headaches and the doctor’s office was next to Make A Wish offices,” said Brother Kyer, who joined the Brotherhood on February 1, 1994. “One thing led to another and I approached BNSF management about the idea and they basically said I could run the train. I never imagined that going on 10 years later we would still be doing it.”
Since that first year, more than 1,000 children who were sick or less fortunate were able to enjoy the train ride and see their special wish come true. In 2007, 347 children and their parents rode the train, and as many as 425 enjoyed the ride a few years ago.
The 2007 run was especially important to Brother Kyer and all the volunteers.
“We had a 10 year old boy from Phoenix Children’s Hospital who wanted to see the inside of a locomotive,” Kyer said. “We had him down at Mobest Yard the day before the passenger train ran and we took him up on an engine. He was given gifts from the BLET, United Transportation Union, and BNSF.
“He rode the passenger train the next day (November 3, 2007), and he passed away on November 12. It was a sobering experience and a very real reminder of the reason we run this train each year.”
Children who participate in the ride are typically nominated by: Make A Wish Foundation; Phoenix Children’s Hospital; Camp Rainbow; Center for Burns and Trauma; Arise Children’s Foster Care; and Arizonans for Children.
“Arizonans for Children provides a magician and clown as well as face painters,” Kyer said. “Arizona Operation Lifesaver provides materials for the kids and talks to them about safety.”
The train runs with a four-man volunteer crew each year.
“I use the same crew, changing out the brakeman each year to give other people a chance to work on it,” Kyer said.
Other volunteers, including those from the Young Women’s program at the LDS Church Rose Garden Ward, who work as car attendants and serve drinks and snacks. Paramedics and a doctor are also on board.
The run is from Glendale, Ariz., to Matthie, which is five miles east of Wickenburg. The train then turns around and runs back to Glendale. Total mileage is approximately 100 miles, and running time is about 3 hours and 15 minutes.
“The first year I used equipment from the Arizona Railway Museum in Chandler, Ariz.,” Kyer said. “The second year BNSF asked if I would like some of the BNSF business cars, and the rest is history.”
Those business cars make the train ride an even more personal journey for Brother Kyer.
“My dad was a Santa Fe locomotive engineer in Los Angeles and I vividly remember him running the Super Chief and San Diegan when I was growing up,” Kyer said. “Some of the equipment BNSF lets me use was pulled on the Super Chief by my father, so it gives me a connection to him as well.”
Brother Kyer credits BLET members in Los Angeles for providing him with the inspiration for organizing the ride. He said they’ve been operating a similar ride for needy children for almost 20 years.
BLET National President Ed Rodzwicz commended Brother Kyer for his efforts, and thanked him and all other BLET members who volunteer their time to such worthwhile causes.
“Over the years, Brother Kyer and his volunteers have given hundreds of families in need a gift — treasured memories to last a lifetime,” President Rodzwicz said. “That is truly a special gift, and one that comes straight from the heart.”