Subject:
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Re: what is the use of a caboose?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Wed, 25 Jul 2001 05:07:45 GMT
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Viewed:
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794 times
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> Primary uses were:
>
> - Provide a place for the conductor and brakeman to ride
> - Provide an office for the conductor to do his paperwork
> - Provide a place to cary various things neccessary to maintenance and
> operation of the train
> - Provide a place to hang lamps to mark the end of the train
> - Provide a place where the train can be watched for maintenance
> problems (especially "hot boxes" - situations where the bearings on the
> cars wheels overheat and ignite the lubricant)
>
> In these days of airbrakes, fewer hot box problems (and I think some
> automated detection of problems), and other conveniences, the caboose
> hase been replaced by a box with a flashing light stuck onto the last
> car in the train.
I'm curious. Does ANYONE use cabooses anymore? The last time I remember
seeing a caboose on a train was sometime in the early 90s.
At the time I lived right next to a series of railroad tracks, one right
next to the other. Only around 50 or 60 feet of marsh land was between the
very end of my backyard and the closest track. You would think that living
so close to a railroad would be really noisey, but it wasn't believe it or
not. I was very young at the time. I always thought of it as my personnal
full scale train set. :-) Almost all of the conductors would wave to me as
they were passing by. The tracks were owned by Berlington Railroad, however
I would occasionally see Amtrak passenger trains run by the tracks. My
freinds and I would sometimes throw rocks into the moving box cars that had
its doors open. There was also this automated light tower on the tracks.
Whenever, it was on, it would illuminate all of the tracks so conductors can
see if the tracks in front of them had been tampered with. The lights would
only come on when trains transporting hazardous material was coming through.
Now that I think about it. I kind of miss living so close to the railroads.
It was the primary reason why I got into trains. *sniff* I'm gonna go cry
now. While I do that, will one of you design and build an automated light
tower for a railroad? :-)
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Message has 5 Replies:
 | | Re: what is the use of a caboose?
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| (...) I saw a CSX train near Harper's Ferry, WV with a bay window caboose as recently as a year and half ago. It might have been a freak occurance though. (...) neat story. -chris (23 years ago, 25-Jul-01, to lugnet.trains)
| | | Re: what is the use of a caboose?
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| (...) Burlington (early 90's Burlington Northern, Now Burlington Northern Santa Fe)... Railroad, however (...) I like the story though, I wish I lived that close... Last time I saw a caboose was 3 weeks ago, parked on a spur with a rusty older snow (...) (23 years ago, 25-Jul-01, to lugnet.trains)
| | | Re: what is the use of a caboose?
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| (...) I was on a steam excursion trip July 15th, and we were passed by a freight train with a caboose at the end. It was pretty dark by then, so I couldn't see if anyone was actually riding in the caboose. Sure was neat to see one rolling, though! (...) (23 years ago, 25-Jul-01, to lugnet.trains)
| | | Re: what is the use of a caboose?
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| (...) There is frequently a caboose sitting outside the Dow Chemical yard between outgoing trains, and it sometimes goes away, and is sometimes a different caboose, so I'd guess that it's getting attached to outbound trains, and getting dropped off (...) (23 years ago, 25-Jul-01, to lugnet.trains)
| | | Re: what is the use of a caboose?
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| (...) Yep, most railroads still have them. It's just that they tend to get used on local trains only now (A FRED is cheaper for mainline, when you are not switching the train at all). Because the crew is 3 on most mainline runs (or even 2), you (...) (23 years ago, 25-Jul-01, to lugnet.trains)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: what is the use of a caboose?
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| (...) Primary uses were: - Provide a place for the conductor and brakeman to ride - Provide an office for the conductor to do his paperwork - Provide a place to cary various things neccessary to maintenance and operation of the train - Provide a (...) (23 years ago, 24-Jul-01, to lugnet.trains)
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