MODERN CABOOSES

[Anonymous]

If you are modeling 1990 to the present do you run cabooses on all your trains.Or do like the real thing.

[Anonymous]

My friend told me this... "there are no railroad police!"
I would do whatever pleased you and not worry about being "correct"
I also run modern (and vintage stuff mixed in), and I run cabooses as the mood strikes me!

[Anonymous]

one more thought along these lines...

if you check the Walther's sale flyers, they are always advertising trainsets with cabooses... among the roads listed is BNSF which never existed as a road until after cabooses were phased out. I have NEVER seen a BNSF caboose in real life. I have seen older BN and Santa Fe cabooses still hanging around though...

I guess other people must "break the rules" too!

lol

[Anonymous]

also...

There is an article somewhere on this site (under railroading I believe) that discusses cabooses at length. I found it very informative regarding when to use them if you want to be 'correct'

lol

[Anonymous]

Well living near RR tracks of the former Conrail now both CSX and SN use it, when a work train comes through, it has a caboose. When the road switchers come thought to switch the local industries, they pull a caboose. And when they have something SPECIAL to bring through, the caboose is second or third to the last car on the train with the SPECIALS behind it. Cabooses aren't completely gone, and YES the crew in the caboose still wave to you and your kids as they go by...............Jamie

[Anonymous]

Ok, yeah, that's what I was thinking of... work trains and local switchers, etc... Do the cabooses have CSX livery or Conrail? Possibly Conrail colors with CSX stencilled on them...? I guess a Conrail caboose is called a cabin car in the Pennsy tradition though, isn't it?
I've sure picked up some odd stuff on this site! lol
OH yeah, I remember fondly waving at the crew in the BN cabooses in my hometown!

[Anonymous]

Just wondering some say if this is a 2002 train why do you have a caboose on CSX 697.

[Anonymous]

"Because I'm the CEO, and I ordered it!"

[Anonymous]

OK soory it took me so long to get back . Been busy. The locals that come through with the cabooses are Conrail color with CSX stenciling. The same for the road swithers, Conrail colors, CSX stencils. The wok trains are all gray with caboose to match. I believe that is also a Conrail color. The SPECIALS that I have seen had red cabooses, But I don't remember the stenciling. Why do they still use these cabooses? It must have something to do with the local switching procedure. I do know that the caboose and a few cars are left out on the main line while the locos do the switch. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine.............Jamie

[Anonymous]

I thought BN never had cabooses of there own? Must be left over from a merge.

[BRAKIE]

One of the reasons that a local would use a caboose is due to reverse moves (back up)moves due to a lack of run around track and they may need to back for some miles.A reverse move must be protected to look out for danger,people on the track,and grade crossing protection.

[douginut]

One of the great joys of Model Railroading is that it is YOUR world. I YOU think a caboose is needed on a BNSF hotshot then in your world PUT the caboose on that train.
No graffiti? not in MY world!
170foot tall giant purring cats prowling the countryside?
of course!
But no evil, no terror, nothing that does not make your little world please YOU!
Close the train room door, power up the controls, and live in that world for a while.
I find the world outside of the train room easier to take after a while in mine.

Doug, in Utah

[Anonymous]

Hi,
Sorry so slow to reply...
Yes, I grew up around BN and they had cabooses. Granted, they might have been repainted NP, GN, or CB&Q cabooses (BN was formed from these 3 companies), but they were in full BN colors. One of the towns I grew up in has a retired BN caboose on the outskirts of town... lol

[dknelson]

Most fun of all is when they are backing up and the crew in the caboose waves AND blows the airbrake line "whistle" for a crossing -- or to say hello
By the way last year in Galesburg -- mainline BNSF train came into town from the Twin Cities line with two cabooses at the rear -- both Soo Line!
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

I SAY RUN WHAT YOU WANT,THERE ARE CARS OUT THERE WITH"END OF TRAIN DEVISE",BUT THEY ARE FEW,SOME CABOOSES HAVE BLINKING LIGHT ON END( ATLAS ) & LIONEL, AND THEN THERE ARE SOME ON THE MARKET THAT YOU CAN BUY AND ATTACH,I ALSO RUN SOME OF MY LIONEL'S WITH OUT ANYTHING AT ALL,OR IF YOU WI***O GET THE HE-HA,I TAKE A PICE OF PAPER AND WRITE "BLINK" BLINK" BLINK WITH RED MARK-A-LOT,AND ATTACH TRO LAST CAR>HAVE FUN AKA HUB