Anna Maria Elementary will bid farewell to its little red caboose after 36 years.
The Tropicana railroad car, which sits on a piece of track placed in 1987, will retire to the Florida Railroad Museum, 12210 83rd St. E., Parrish, later this month.
The history of how the caboose came to be is a tale of community, relationships and a desire to lead students into the technological future with computers.
Principal Mike Masiello said a former AME student who became a parent of students, Joan Pettigrew, read about CSX Transportation discontinuing cabooses and, with the support of others in the community, got the school administration to approve the relocation of a railroad car to the school.
The caboose arrived at AME with the help of Lou Merucci, the father of two AME students, who acquired a crane and flatbed truck to move the caboose to the island.
Some remember seeing the caboose crossing the Anna Maria Island Bridge, an unusual sight, and students at the school observed as it rolled onto the school grounds, according to Islander archives.
Similarly, the caboose will be removed Feb. 24 by crane and flatbed truck and taken to Parrish to become a new exhibit at the museum.
Billie Coles, to whom the caboose is dedicated, was a curriculum specialist at AME from 1988-92. Coles’ efforts led to the caboose becoming a computer lab, which was influential in getting parents involved in students’ computer education.
Chris Culhane, executive director of the Center of Anna Maria Island and also a member of the AME School Advisory Committee, told other SAC members Jan. 25 that he was a student when the caboose was installed.
And he recalled using one of the first computer models in the train car.
Over the years, the caboose also functioned as a speech classroom and a school supply store.
According to Islander archives, Anna Maria Island Historical Society members met in 2006 at Holmes Beach City Hall to discuss plans to transform the train car into an island school museum, but the project did not come to fruition.
Masiello said Jan. 25 that the caboose had deteriorated beyond the ability to bring it back. There is rust and sharp metal on the car and window glazing contains asbestos.
The removal of the caboose — which still displays a plaque dedicated to Coles — is tentatively set for 9 a.m.
In the caboose’s place, AME will create a garden — to be dedicated to Coles.