Why Railroads banned Cabooses Forever

Comments · 857

• WR

  @WrinklesMagee2117 · 6 months ago

  No train set would be complete without a caboose.

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• DA

  @davidbridgewaters-w7w · 6 months ago

  I loved waiting for the caboose to go by when I was a kid.

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• KE

  @kennethboucher7663 · 6 months ago

  One thing the video left out was railroads installed trackside detectors every 25-30 miles that detected hot wheels or axle bearings. Plus, the railroads saved money by not paying out injury claims to conductors or brakeman injured in rough slack action. The original acronym for the end of train device was “ rear end device.”  Trainmen added an F at the beginning as a a better adjective.  Then they were colloquially called FRED.  They were very heavy to carry for any distance. Also, when coming up behind another train at night, the blinking LED light gives you no depth perception on how close you are getting to the train ahead. Unlike the double red marker lights on a caboose. I always enjoyed working out of a caboose as a brakeman or conductor.  Very sad to see them go, much like the passing of the steam locomotives.

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• ER

  @erictaylor5462 · 6 months ago

  I remeber when the caboose vanished. It was odd to see trains running without them.

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• KU

  @KULT_OF_DECEPTION · 6 months ago

  My grandfather was a Conductor for the Southern Pacific.<br>He worked, lived, &amp; slept in a caboose from 1943-1966.<br>[retired &apos;66 stg4 cancer] &nbsp; &nbsp;~RIP Grandpa Charlie~<br><br>His closest friend was a brakeman named Noble Shedd.<br>In the early 70s someone threw a rock at his caboose. Noble was hit in the left temple while sitting at the caboose table. It messed up his balance for months, and it caused his 15yr early retirement. [vertigo] &nbsp;~RIP Noble~

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• CH

  @charlotte-CB · 5 months ago

  So sad. &nbsp;I grew up along RR tracks. We had friendships with the engineers and caboose guys. In fact, the days my mom made bread, both got hot rolls and homemade butter. We would wave the bag, train would slow down to grab their paper bag then go slow until the caboose guys got their hot bread and butter.

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• MA

  @maryelizabeth2996 · 6 months ago

  Started work with the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1970. Back then when a brakeman got &nbsp;enough seniority they became a Conductor. Each Conductor got his own caboose and was assigned 2 Brakemen one worked on the engine and one with more seniority worked on the caboose. I remember our caboose was built in 1918. A coal stove to heat and cook on. An ice box for a refrigerator. No washroom. &nbsp;A tank to store water in for cooking and cleaning dishes etc. Three beds, a desk to write on, a coal oil lamp for light. The Operator, who copied train orders from the train dispatcher to give to the train crews would come to our caboose and call us 2 hours before we started work.

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• CA

  @carolduell7629 · 5 months ago

  The “Little Red Caboose”, always came last, one of my favorite books as a child.

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• BO

  @bobmurray6302 · 6 months ago

  I remember lines of cabooses in Chicago after they were pulled out of service. Sad

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• JE

  @jeffreylee5770 · 5 months ago

  I took my son to a railroad museum that had a caboose. Every kid loved that.

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• AL

  @alanrobinson4318 · 6 months ago

  I&apos;ve still got my grandfather&apos;s brake mans lantern from the AT&amp;SF Rw.

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• TH

  @Themachinearchive · 6 months ago

  What struck me personally is how something that looks so ordinary actually carries years of learning and refinement behind it. It makes me wonder — how many other everyday things around us have stories this deep that we never stop to notice?

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