Cabooses

[Anonymous]

In some cases cabosses are still used on locals and trains that require travelling backwards for long distances such as coal trains backing into a loader or as a shoving platform for the brakemen to ride in switching moves.

[CShaveRR]

Well I would think it'd be safer to step off a moving caboose at the rear than upfront from the engiene even at 3 or 4 mph one slip could be deadly. 

They used to teach us how to get on and off moving equipment.  In those days, nailing a locomotive at 10 mph was nothing to crow about (I didn't enjoy it, though!), and waycars (CNW jargon for cabooses) could be boarded at even higher speeds.  Those curved handrails at the ends of the carbodies were truly amazing in the lift they'd give you!

Getting off was pretty much the same for all types of equipment--face the equipment, put your trailing foot down, and let go with the leading hand first (after, of course, looking for obstructions or bad footing).  You'd better be ready to move forward at the same speed as the equipment.

Nowadays, getting on or off moving equipment is prohibited by the rules, except in emergencies.  From what I've gathered, the proper way to do it isn't even taught any more.  That is upsetting, because if an emergency is perceived, and the employee needs to/thinks he needs to get on or off something that's moving, he may not now how--and now you've got two emergencies.

[PigFarmer1]

"Cabeese" were replaced by "End of Train Devices" (ETDs) or "Freight Rear End Devices" (FREDs - I think that's what FRED stands for).

I like cabeese better, but the blinkey light on the ETDs are kinda cute! 

 

Think of another word, a four letter word (This would actually be the seven letter version of the word) , that begins with "F" and you have the first word of "FRED".   

[chad thomas]

 The Modoc Northern uses a caboose. Not for a shoveing platform either. It is used in regular service between Klamath Falls and Lakeview (former SP Modoc line K Falls to Alturas and former SP Lakeview branch Alturas to Lakeview)

 

 

An interesting note: In winter it gets really cold in Modoc. Between Klamath and Alturas the speed is sufficient for the axle driven alternator to run the heater to keep the caboose warm, but between Alturas and Lakeview the speed is 10 mph or less and that's not enought to keep it warm. So there are rarely riders on that segment in winter. 

 

[tree68]

Some cabeese couldn't handle the stress of being pushed on - the railroads had to take them off and put them behind the helpers.  Somehow I have to believe that that was a lesson learned, much to the chagrin (and possibly injury) of the crew occupying such a caboose when it crumpled up.

[Modelcar]

With the current discussion about caboose usage again, I'm reminded of how dangerous {from tails I've heard}, they were to the crew.  Slack running in and out throwing the crew around...Another item....Picture a coal train with steam power up front and maybe 2 on the rear....pushing right against the coupler on the back of the car...with the crew in it.  Noise and the thought of all that power pushing right against the "car" they were in.....

[wjstix]

A good example of a caboose used today as a "shoving platform" (although it appears the doors do open on these) are two cabooses CP uses on trains running a few miles down the Mississippi River from their ex-Milwaukee Pig's Eye Yard down to a large oil refinery. The train runs engines (two GP's usually - and like the cabooses, still in SOO LINE livery) first south down the river, with a caboose on the rear. Rather than turn the train at the refinery and put the engines  in front for the return trip, they put two crewmen on the rear of the caboose, one having a radio to communicate with the engine crew, and run 'caboose first' back to the yard.

[Janice]

A goodly number of the remaining "cabooses" are, in fact, simply platforms on which a crew member can stand during a push move.  Most are actually closed up completely - the crew never goes inside.

Eventually, as remaining cabeese reach the end of servicable live, methinks you may see a return to the old-style homebuilt transfer cabooses - little more than a flatcar with steps and a small shelter.

I've also seen shove platforms specifically built for use with RCLs.

Well I would think it'd be safer to step off a moving caboose at the rear than upfront from the engiene even at 3 or 4 mph one slip could be deadly.  One caboose I went in on (I  think in galesburg) on display was cozy & nice while in Ft.Madison the one was hot & kinda smelly. Depends on whom cares for them.

 

[SR1457]

csshaverr., Those cabs smelled like a bed of roses, compared to some of the rooming houses i had to go to , to call men for work, first job i had with rr was in 1949, callboy job., guys that were laying over tried to see how much wine and liquor, beer,they could put in their bellys ,cigarettes  smoke,and who could poot the most, while your post was accurate thought i would throw this out....

[tree68]

A goodly number of the remaining "cabooses" are, in fact, simply platforms on which a crew member can stand during a push move.  Most are actually closed up completely - the crew never goes inside.

Eventually, as remaining cabeese reach the end of servicable live, methinks you may see a return to the old-style homebuilt transfer cabooses - little more than a flatcar with steps and a small shelter.

I've also seen shove platforms specifically built for use with RCLs.

[Janice]

Janice, back in the day, cabooses were a home-away-from-home for the conductor and brakemen on a crew.  They came with bunks, stoves, a desk, iceboxes, lockers, chairs, toilet, sink, and so on.  I've been in some that were pretty classy (the conductor took pride in "his" caboose before they were pooled), and some that smelled pretty raunchy.

When being pulled at the end of the train, they were the office at which the boss of the train (the conductor, then and now) could handle the paperwork, observe the train ahead, check the trainline pressure, and do it all while hanging on in anticipation of slack action that could literally throw a person from one end of the caboose to the other (or up against a hot stove, down from a cupola, or other such).

Cabooses got to be pretty fancy along the line, with electricity, flushing toilets, padding on sharp corners, high-backed chairs, radios, roller bearings, cushioning, and so on, making them pretty expensive.  In the early 1980s, railroads decided that they wanted to get rid of them and their expense--moving the conductor to the front end, and getting rid of one or more brakemen in the process.  The workers were (justifiably) upset at this assault on their way of life and the ranks of employees, but after the cabooses were yanked, there has been little lobbying to get them back--injury rates decreased markedly when nobody was hanging on at the hind-end of a train that could have hundreds of feet of whip-cracking slack in it.  Probably what's most sorely missed are the pairs of eyes inspecting the train from the hind end forward, but a lot of what they could see or smell is now caught by defect detectors every twenty miles or so.

The end-of-train device (forget about FRED--most of us just call them EOTs) can inform the crew on the locomotive of the train-line pressure, the functionality of its light (which usually blinks only below a certain light threshhold), and--of course--whether the train is in one piece.  some of the (I haven't heard much about this lately) could inform the engineer whether the slack was in tension or compression at the hind end.  And the most modern ones are capable of initiating an emergency brake application from the hind end simultaneously with the engineer's application in the locomotive--this makes the application travel through the train twice as fast, and could eliminate some potentially-disastrous slack action.

I hope this is a useful explanation.

Thank you all for clearing this up.

**pouts,arms crossed*** I still like cabooses better lol

It has its pros & cons.

Pros: Cheaper,safer,Can be seen at night & not so nice weather from traffic from behind. 

cons : Not as cute

Once in a while in the Peoria area you'll see a caboose here & there but everytime Ive seen them they were behind the engienes or parked in the rail yards so they still provide some use which is a comforting thought when it brings childhood memories.

[CShaveRR]

Janice, back in the day, cabooses were a home-away-from-home for the conductor and brakemen on a crew.  They came with bunks, stoves, a desk, iceboxes, lockers, chairs, toilet, sink, and so on.  I've been in some that were pretty classy (the conductor took pride in "his" caboose before they were pooled), and some that smelled pretty raunchy.

When being pulled at the end of the train, they were the office at which the boss of the train (the conductor, then and now) could handle the paperwork, observe the train ahead, check the trainline pressure, and do it all while hanging on in anticipation of slack action that could literally throw a person from one end of the caboose to the other (or up against a hot stove, down from a cupola, or other such).

Cabooses got to be pretty fancy along the line, with electricity, flushing toilets, padding on sharp corners, high-backed chairs, radios, roller bearings, cushioning, and so on, making them pretty expensive.  In the early 1980s, railroads decided that they wanted to get rid of them and their expense--moving the conductor to the front end, and getting rid of one or more brakemen in the process.  The workers were (justifiably) upset at this assault on their way of life and the ranks of employees, but after the cabooses were yanked, there has been little lobbying to get them back--injury rates decreased markedly when nobody was hanging on at the hind-end of a train that could have hundreds of feet of whip-cracking slack in it.  Probably what's most sorely missed are the pairs of eyes inspecting the train from the hind end forward, but a lot of what they could see or smell is now caught by defect detectors every twenty miles or so.

The end-of-train device (forget about FRED--most of us just call them EOTs) can inform the crew on the locomotive of the train-line pressure, the functionality of its light (which usually blinks only below a certain light threshhold), and--of course--whether the train is in one piece.  some of the (I haven't heard much about this lately) could inform the engineer whether the slack was in tension or compression at the hind end.  And the most modern ones are capable of initiating an emergency brake application from the hind end simultaneously with the engineer's application in the locomotive--this makes the application travel through the train twice as fast, and could eliminate some potentially-disastrous slack action.

I hope this is a useful explanation.

[Railroader_Sailor_SSN-760]

I have heard a different word used for the F in FRED, but this is a family forum.

But it does fit the description better.

Besides, if it was a Fat Rear End Device, I am not sure if they make a model large enough for my mother in law.

[Anonymous]

FRED = "Fat Rear End Device"??

[Anonymous]

I had read that FRED stood for 'FUNCTIONAL rear end device'.  The first ones, on the FEC I think, were brainless, just blinking.

And I have heard then disparaged with a different word representing the initial letter.

Art 

[Ted Marshall]

"Cabeese" were replaced by "End of Train Devices" (ETDs) or "Freight Rear End Devices" (FREDs - I think that's what FRED stands for).

I like cabeese better, but the blinkey light on the ETDs are kinda cute! 

(F)lashing (R)ear (E)nd (D)evice

FRED

[Anonymous]

"Cabeese" were replaced by "End of Train Devices" (ETDs) or "Freight Rear End Devices" (FREDs - I think that's what FRED stands for).

I like cabeese better, but the blinkey light on the ETDs are kinda cute! 

[JoeKoh]

csx here in defiance uses the caboose for back up moves to go back east into the yard after switching the maw and/or omni.

stay safe

joe

[trainfan1221]

Basically, a lot of the functions of a caboose are now performed by a silver box attached to the coupler of the last car of a train.   Not quite as dramatic when the train has passed but that's technology.

[Ted Marshall]

Cabooses are still used, just not nearly as often and have taken on new roles. BNSF, for example, uses cabooses as shove platforms to give the conductor a safe platform to work from during lengthy shoves. Also, BNSFand other railroads use cabooses on work trains. The caboose is still a very functional piece of equipment at the railroad's disposal. 

[Janice]

Dumb question but why dont they use Cabooses anymore seems after the 1980's they stopped using them. Im new to the forums so if this has been asked already sorry still not familiar with the search option & other functions.