This was not an optical illusion!!

[Anonymous]

Believe it or not, I caught a glimpse of a real live caboose today!! I live in central Illinois, and while driving thru Champaign earlier today, I spotted 2 locos--a CN and a GT--sitting on some tracks in town, followed by a short consist of some hoppers and a caboose. Unfortunately, I was too far away to see what type or whose caboose it was, but what a thrill! I thought I would never see anything but those goofy FREDs at the end of trains. There really is a Santa Claus!!

[Fergmiester]

Some people actually own Cabooses and pay RR's to pull them around the country. I dare say it's not as cheap as a Winabago!

[Anonymous]

now theres a new spin on ther nursery rhyme "there was once an old lady who lived in a ... CABOOSE?

[Anonymous]

Local switching trains often still have cabeese. The crew are away from their home yard all day, and they need a place to lunch and to "go". I see them locally all the time.

Bob Boudreau

[Anonymous]

I am sure it made your day. To bad they don't make a come back. The days when a train was complete and it didn't look like the caboose came uncoupled and slowly came to a hault several miles behind.

[Anonymous]

Cool! A couple NS locals around here always use Conrail cabooses, so I always try seeing them.

[cacole]

It might have been a ballast train. They sometimes use a caboose for the crew to cook, watch TV, and sleep in during their overnight stops. Champaign used to be a division point for the IC, but with the advent of diesels it now has only a small yard and Amtrak station, and the division point has been moved to Centralia.

[Anonymous]

They keep a caboose at the small Conrail yard in Linden, New Jersey. They need it because they are not allowed to push cars blind in a lot of areas.

Jim