CSX Caboose

Cabooses are not used on most long distance freights anymore but are used on local switching or drills; work trains; special moves.  When there is extensive switching, extensive back up moves, or anyother time there will be more than three in the crew or when there will be more than the complimentary crew members needed for the assignment.

     With the position of the Caboose between the engine and locomotive, it would seem to rule out an immediate shoving move.

   With Dougs description of the load, could this be some kind of special move? Looking at the caboose, I can't recall a similar paint job on CSX equipment; (possibly indicating a caboose related to a special move?) 

  Just a couple of thoughts.     

     Looks like Doug picked a good position for an office for a railfan!

Doug - First,

What you've got there is an unusual catch - part of a 'special movement' = likely heavier than normal, and perhaps also higher and/ or wider than would fit within a normal 'clearance diagram' or 'AAR Plate', sometime also referred to as the 'loading gauge'. 

With only part of the car visible, and from your description, it looks like it is a depressed-deck heavy-capacity flatcar*, on an empty leg of the move.  We can see 4 trucks = 8 axles under the leading portion of the car at the right of the photo, so it's safe to assume there's an equal number at the other end.  That would be a total of 16 axles; at a guess-timate of 70,000 lbs. per axle, that would be 1.12 million lbs., about equal to 4 regular cars.  Is there a power plant or port nearby that would have such a heavy and large load coming to it ?

* It might also be a Schnabel car - which is a whole different animal, but your ''skateboard ramp'' description rules that out - and just about perfectly fits a depressed-center car.

[EDIT]  See the same or very similar flatcar shown in this linked photo - GEGX 21155, which is also from South Carolina - Yemassee, about a year ago -

http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=50594  [End EDIT]

The caboose is not a railroad caboose, though.  While I can't read much even with enlarging the photo, that looks like a 4-bladed clover or fan logo at the upper left, and the lettering underneath seems to say something like ''HIGH VISION''.  Those kinds of loads are often accompanied by cabooses for the escort riders, and this appears to be one of the modern, extended-vision cupola type that are often favored for that kind of service.  They are usually owned by either the company that makes the big equipment, or by one of the crane or rigging services that undertakes to move them, and it sure looks like one of those.

You say the photo was taken yesterday - Tues., March 23rd, 2010.  We can also see that the locomotive was 8844, which - from its C-C 3-axle trucks and long rear 'porch' or walkway deck - appears to be an SD40 or SD40-2 type.  If you could give us an idea of where it was taken - just the city or town and in which direction it was moving - there are some people here who seem to be well-connected with CSX who might be able to find out more about it. 

Thanks for sharing !

- Paul North.

After a little research over lunchtime, which included some lucky guesses and associations and correlations, here's what I think:

The caboose is probably one of ''GEGX'' = General Electric Gas-Turbine Division's - 'X' = privately owned railcar fleet, such as the 120239 shown in the photo at the link below, or one of its kin -

http://southern.railfan.net/flat/cars/ge/ge21154/gegx120239.jpg 

What I had thought above might be a 4-leaf clover or a 4-bladed fan was more likely the loops of the stylized GE script logo . . .  . . . and what I thought appeared to be something like 'HIGH VISION' underneath it was more likely instead the reporting marks and number of GEGX 120239 or similar, which makes a lot more sense . . . . . . maybe time for a new pair of reading/ computer viewing glasses . . .

For a lot more photos - like 135, including a few of the caboose - and good information, see this webpage -

 GEGX 21154 - 21155

---

 

Description:

These two depressed center flat car are owned by General Electric. They were built in 1997 by the Atlas Car Division of Bliss-Salem Inc. They are assigned to the GE Gas Turbine Division, and are based in Greenville, SC.

at - http://southern.railfan.net/flat/cars/ge/ge21154/gex21154.html 

The few paragraphs of text there is interesting, too.

See also the following collection of photos -

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rsPicture.aspx?id=841 

Actually, now that I ran down a few more leads, and comparing all the white handrails on the roof and the large white box, I do believe that you saw GEGX 120239 - mislabeled in this photo here as the 120329 - which is captioned as having been photographed just last week - March 15, 2010, which was Monday - in Cayce, South Carolina:

 http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1982760 

See also this photo of it - http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=291264 

I'm done now - Game Over !

- Paul North. 

P.S. - Just so nobody thinks I missed it - Why does it look like the 8844 is pushing a flatcar ahead of it, in the Original Poster's linked photo ?

 

Wow Paul, awesome analysis, thanks.  The picture was taken with my cell phone so the quality is kind of low.  I am in Augusta, GA, just down the road from Cayce, SC which is outside Columbia, SC.  I work in the IT department of a large chemical manufacturer.  We are located on the Savannah river just up stream from a large coal fired power plant, and the Savannah River Site (SRS).  So I think you may be right on about the depressed center flat car.

 I feel really fortunate to be sitting in front of a picture window with constant rail action less than 100 yards away.  Sometimes it is difficult to pull myself away from the view and get back to work, hehe.  I will bring in a better camera and hopefully post any more unusual things I see.

Thanks again for y'alls information.

The caboose usually travels with 2 of the 16 axle depressed cars carrying turbines from the GE plant in Greenville, SC to Charleston, SC. They go threw Sav. Due to clearances. The crew on the caboose operates the cars on tight curves side shifting the load from side to side. With the load around over 350 tons. They get offf loaded by The Charleston Giant and moved into storage by J. E. Oswalt and sons. Then delivered to the ship.

  Themayor - Welcome to Trains.com!

Sure, Cabeese are rare to see, but currently are still around and have not been faded. There should be no caboose on a Road Train unless it is to be scrapped. Usually on a Local Train some could be seen such as around Illinois. In Rockdale, Illinois there is an old Chesse Caboose used on a rare occasion and also in Marseilles, Illinois a Local Train has an old faded CSX Caboose used on a short industrial branch.

Usually a Caboose is used on a Transfer Train and usually a Local Train, but it would be absolutely rare to see on onboard a Yard Train and also onboard a Road Train.

 

What were formerly known a Caboose's are now known as 'Shoving Platforms'.  They are used on jobs who's normal duties include long shoving moves to service their customers.  Some of the industrial spurs the carriers have may be several miles long with no facility for running around the train.  Shoving Platforms gives the crewman that is riding the point of the shove a safe location to perform his duties - much safer that hanging on the side of a car.

Iowa Interstate has used a few cabooses as shoving platforms in the Chicago area because of the long back-up move involved in delivering interchange to the IHB at Blue Island.