Cabooses

[Doc Murdock]

Is there any railways that still uses cabooses on a regular basis? I imagine cabooses are only used on short lines where there is a lot of switching being done. One railway I was wondering if they still use a caboose is the Southern Railway of B.C. that operates out of Trapp Yards in New Westminister, B.C.

[Dough]

CSX still uses a number of them, but they are all "shoving platforms."  Basiclly cabooses that were stripped down to just the basic shell.  They only use them on the locals when long reverse moves are common (kind of like a shortline).  The one here in Athens, GA is used daily.  Other than that I can only think of special operations such as MoW or seriously heavy loads.

[vlmuke]

I agree we only use cabboses for either special purposes or Local switching I recently hauled a test car with a cabbose the guy lived on board the cabbose but he was very nice and fed us out of his nicely stocked fridge though

[Anonymous]

I have seen really big high-wides with cabs behind them. these loads were some kind of generators and the cab on the rear was decked out on the inside with a fridge and a place to cook. the people that rode in the cab basically lived in there until the loads reached their destination. 

[TimChgo9]

I see a BNSF local from time to time that switches out the businesses and warehouses west of Lemont Rd, it runs all the way to Joliet Rd, and somewhat beyond...Anyway, the local has a caboose on it....

[lenzfamily]

Doc

Yes, the BC Southern still does use cabooses on the Huntingdon Turn (NW to Abbotsford) and the Chilliwack Turn (east from Abbotsford to Chilliwack) Each of these turns still runs with three crew, Engineer, Conductor and Brakeman/Switchman as they still do a lot of pulls and flat-switching at Huntingdon Yard and a lot of pulls and setouts at Chilliwack (connection with CN). In the good old days (at leat 15 years ago, before Washington Group took over the railway) it was possible to ride the second unit with permission from the Supt at Trapp Yard. I remember making trips with a friend on the Huntingdon Turn, often called for 3pm and returning, if there wasn't a lot of switching to be done on route and the traffic on the line to Point Roberts coal terminal wasn't too heavy at 10pm. We would walk down to the Trapp Yard office, sign the liability waivers and board the second unit. I remember long waits at Percy (eastbound) just east of Cloverdale waiting for signals to clear onto the Point Roberts line and then again at Hopewell, (eastbound on the CN) if traffic was heavy on the Page Sub. The engineer used to take a box with him in the summer and pick blackberries while he waited for clearance to proceed. He would drop us on the fly on the return trip near our car, which was parked quite a distance from the engine tie up point at Trapp (quite west of the yard office), and then proceed west to cut off power and tie down the train and the units. Saved us a bit of time and was really quite fun. My friend was an ex-CN conductor (Vanc to Boston Bar or Kamloops) turned postie who enjoyed the ride about once a month and having a friend along as well. We could make coffee on the hotplate in the second unit, often in a lashup of GP9s if I recall rightly, and listen to the traffic on the road channel as we travelled. At Huntingdon we would stop in the middle of yard switching near the yard office (at Vye Rd) and eat supper in the caboose with the Crew. The conductor in those days would heat up everyone's meal and we'd sit down to a set table with paper towel for placemats and eat and talk. On a beautiful summer day, life didn't get much better. The crew would pick up the return loads (trains were usually about 25-35 cars) and away we'd go, back to NW. Those days are gone now.  A pity, but I guess the liablility issues got too much to handle.

Thanks for another great set of memories.

Charlie

 

[Doc Murdock]

lenzfamily:

I had the experience of riding on cabooses on Canadian Pacific, Canadian National and B.C. Rail. Along with the front engine on the B.C. Rail and a different Canadian Pacific run. Remarkable. See my thread on Riding the Frieghts.

[wjstix]

CP Rail uses a couple of SOO cabooses in St.Paul on runs from Pig's Eye yard down the river a few miles to a refinery. It's probably being used as a "shoving platform" however the caboose's doors and windows are still functional - on many pure shoving platforms the caboose's doors and windows are welded shut.

BNSF uses some old BN cabooses in northwestern Wisconsin, they recently repainted them into 'traditional' BN colors with the BN logo etc.  

[Mudekk]

CP's Spaulding Patrol (local job out of Bensenville) usuallys includes a caboose.

[StillGrande]

Norfolk Southern has at least one in Alexandria down by the UPS facility in the small intermodal yard there.  I suspect it is only used in shoving moves like the CSX ones around here, but I haven't seen it actually used.  It does move around a bit in the yard. 

[Train Guy 3]

I'm pretty sure that NS still uses cabooses on emtpy coal trains in West Virginia and Southwest VA  because the trains have to back into the coal mine to be loaded and the engineer would have no way to see any grade crossings. Anyone out there correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't been near the coal feild county in quite some time.

[TimChgo9]

What is a "shoving platform"?

I saw a BNSF freight go through Joliet Union Station this evening (northbound). Almost 100 cars, complete with a caboose, and a crew member standing in the open rear door, waving at my kids.....I felt I was 20 years in the past...

[Murphy Siding]

     Our local BNSF yard uses a caboose, sometimes when switching in the industrial park.  But not always (?).  I echo the question of Tim above:  what is a "shoving platform"?

     Thanks

[vlmuke]

A shoving platform is a platform that the conductor and/or brakeman can ride during a long shove move( train backing up ) usually to protect the crew from motorists and so they don't have to hang on the side ladder for a really long time usually its an old caboose

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure that NS still uses cabooses on emtpy coal trains in West Virginia and Southwest VA  because the trains have to back into the coal mine to be loaded and the engineer would have no way to see any grade crossings. Anyone out there correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't been near the coal feild county in quite some time.

If the conductor is riding the rear car, or walking ahead of the shove as required then there is no need for the engineer to see the crossing.

[tree68]

I'm pretty sure that NS still uses cabooses on emtpy coal trains in West Virginia and Southwest VA  because the trains have to back into the coal mine to be loaded and the engineer would have no way to see any grade crossings. Anyone out there correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't been near the coal feild county in quite some time.

 

If the conductor is riding the rear car, or walking ahead of the shove as required then there is no need for the engineer to see the crossing.

"Five cars to the crossing, crossing is clear."

"Three cars to the crossing, crossing is still clear"

" One car to the crossing, crossing still clear."

"On the Crossing.  Clear for 30."

Our push move (done every day we run and three times on Wednesday) has a short enough train that the engineer still blows for the crossing, accompanied by the whistle on the brake hose.  The conductor or trainman calling the move stands in the vestibule of the end car.

[cairosbd]

CSX still uses a caboose on its local from Thomasville, GA to Perry, FL.  They have two cabooses in the yard; one is a Operation Redblock CSX and the other is painted in full Family Lines colors with L&N markings.  It is worth a picture if you can catch the Family Lines caboose.  The Perry Local runs 6 days a week.

[Andrew Falconer]

The only regular Mainline caboose in SouthWestern Michigan is most likely the GTW Extended-Vision Cabooses on Local freights between Kalamazoo and Battle Creek.

Andrew