(The following story by Charlotte Keenan appeared on the St. Joe News-Press website on August 9. Edward Kirk was a member of BLET Division 107 in St. Joseph, Mo.)
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — In his 41 years of life, Edward Kirk had been an Eagle Scout, a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve and a Burlington locomotive engineer.
Before he died, he’d initiated a hunt for a caboose to donate to his hometown of Weston, Mo.
“It’s just something he wanted to do, so we did it for him,” his mother said.
Ray and Edna Kirk’s search ended when they discovered the caboose, which had been used as a tourist visitor center, located outside the St. Joseph Ramada Inn. On Friday, they transported the caboose to Weston, Mo., where it will stand outside the town hall as a memorial to their son.
“We’re a real historical town, Weston, and Burlington has always been a part of our history,” Ms. Kirk said.
Edward had been searching for a Burlington caboose because the town hall had once been a Burlington train station, she said.
But these cars were discontinued in 1986 and became rare, Ms. Kirk said.
“He might have gotten one if he’d lived,” she said. “But this one came up as a possibility, so that’s why we bought it, and we’re just going to have it painted like a Burlington caboose.”
Burlington, now known as BNSF, will provide paint and train tracks for the caboose, and the interior of the car will belong to the local Boy Scouts for Eagle Scout projects.
Transporting the caboose became the most challenging aspect of the Kirks’ mission.
“I didn’t think it’d ever happen, but it did,” Mr. Kirk said.
The process required two cranes and a specialized moving company from Portland, Ore.
“Be very careful when you buy a caboose,” Mr. Kirk said. “They’re easy to buy, but getting them moved is an entirely different situation.”
As they watched the cranes at work on Friday, the Kirks wore bracelets inscribed with the words “Capt. Kirk,” a nickname Edward’s friends had given him.
Edward Kirk died Aug. 5, 2007, south of Weston on U.S. Highway 45, Ms. Kirk said, when a driver drove into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with her son, killing him instantly.