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Subject: 
Re: what is the use of a caboose?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains
Date: 
Wed, 25 Jul 2001 16:04:25 GMT
Viewed: 
857 times
  
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.

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 don't need the space provided.  When you are shunting, with the
extra brakeman, the cab space becomes more of a issue- so you take a van along
for comfort (Shunting also tends to take a whole shift to do- the caboose
provides a more comfortable area to rest than in the cab of a older engine)

As for when I last saw one- I was in one 2 weekends ago...but it doesn't move.
at VIME in Victoria...it's a old boxcar that was converted by Past God's
Endurance (Pacific Great Eastern/BC Rail) to a caboose.  It'd not be legal for
interchange, since it is wooden bodied...but, it has sat where it is (our
clubhouse) for the last 20 years or so.

James



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: what is the use of a caboose?
 
(...) 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 (...) (23 years ago, 25-Jul-01, to lugnet.trains)

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