Let's face it: Freight trains without cabeese just look wrong. They look cheap and incomplete, and as such, they do not instill confidence in potential freight customers.
Do you think we could petition our upcoming rail-friendly President to reinstate the caboose on freight trains? Doing so would provide jobs for the rail industry, and give us one more person to wave to as the train passes by. The caboose will allow the railroad industry to be more accurate in its reflection of model railroads. It will also send a strong signal to industry that railroads are the way to go when shipping freight.
What sayest thou?
Dream big!
However ...
Shock ControlDo you think we could petition our upcoming rail-friendly President to reinstate the caboose on freight trains?
In any case, I suspect restoration of cabooses as a direct mandate would require specific Federal legislation, which would also have to be strongly safety-based in ways not evident when cabooses were replaced with FREDs in the first place. I do not think that claim can be credibly made, and any attempt to return larger crews (a favorite back in the day when states could mandate 3- or 5-person "full crew laws") would have to show equally strong specific safety benefits ... very difficult to substantiate in a world of mandatory PTC.
It's possible that some bright soul in the PSR world may try dusting off the old GE MATE-based idea of having a crew dorm-lounge built into a road-slug-like unit (in the GE days, this was to be on top of an extended-range fuel tank) and push to change the applicable law to allow a railroad crew to work like a towboat crew for an extended period. This is potentially better than any caboose in some respects, but I think it has the viability of Frosty the Snowman in an ultrasupercritical steam plant.
OvermodI say that dollar for dollar, any money whatsoever that would be spent on such an effort ought to be directed towards progressive implementation of ECP. And that's more dollars than I think a four-year, or eight-year, or even a ten-year Harris administration, would have to devote to caboose restoration. In any case, I suspect restoration of cabooses as a direct mandate would require specific Federal legislation, which would also have to be strongly safety-based in ways not evident when cabooses were replaced with FREDs in the first place. I do not think that claim can be credibly made, and any attempt to return larger crews (a favorite back in the day when states could mandate 3- or 5-person "full crew laws") would have to show equally strong specific safety benefits ... very difficult to substantiate in a world of mandatory PTC.
Yeah, yeah. But you agree that a freight train looks stupid without a caboose, right? How are we going to get future generations excited about railroads without cabeese?
Well I guess it's early but this is the silliest thing I've seen today.
But I'm reasonably certain you're just making a joke.
I hope you're not being dead serious, anyway...
Chris van der Heide
My Algoma Central Railway Modeling Blog
cv_acrWell I guess it's early but this is the silliest thing I've seen today.
If that's the silliest thing you've heard today, you're in good shape!
I'm serious.
I also want the railroads to bring back F units and box cars with slogans written in elegant brush script, but those would be part of a separate proposal. We need to start with cabeese.
Shock ControlBut you agree that a freight train looks stupid without a caboose, right?
Note that the 'proper' answer is to use distributed power correctly even for the 'shorter' PSR-optimized consists ... and put any trailing crew in a cab of the DPU. Gets the same job done, but with no need to switch cabooses around and figure out how to allocate them to trains.
Incidentally I still have drawings for converting cab units (specifically E units) to high developed engine horsepower for distributed-power consists. It would be simple to do the same for a carbody with an F-unit nose...
(Where is the emoticon with the propeller beanie?)
Shock Control But you agree that a freight train looks stupid without a caboose, right?
Well I agree! And you're damn right, freight trains just look stupid and incomplete without a caboose on the end! Every freight train on my O gauge layout has a caboose! I even bought a Jersey Transit caboose at the last train show I went to! What the hell I'm going to do with it I don't know but I'll figure something out. Maybe commuter trains look better with a caboose as well?
Besides, with no caboose how are you supposed to know the freight train's over?
But now the really important question is, is Joe Biden a steam freak?
I would like the new president to consider that the Twentieth Century Limited and Super Chief be reinstated immediately. No, I DEMAND it! Action will be taken! But what kind, I have no idea.
Well, at least this is not the "Railroads are DOOOOMED" nonsense of ttrraaiiffiicc threads. Since I'm more used to seeing cabooses stuffed and mounted for advertising, storage, or other such purposes, or else plated over to serve as shoving platforms, a train without a caboose is fine with me.
As for boxcars with colorful logos - I'm just cool with seeing boxcars (and other carload rolling stock) being used to transport freight, they don't have to have the big guady supergraphics of the 1960s to look cool (besides, Railbox boxcars are yellow and sport various slogans like "Rail car pooling experts" and so on, so there you go). What I wouldn't mind is more wide spread usage of anti-graffitti coatings (although Rustoluem spray seems to adhere to everyhing).
And the F-units - now I know the OP is just busting our chops...What our new rail-friendly president could do is programs like Tiger Grants on steriods, targetted toward more freight and passenger rail expansion (and no, rail-trail conversions are NOT acceptable uses of these grants)
Flintlock76Well I agree! And you're damn right, freight trains just look stupid and incomplete without a caboose on the end! Every freight train on my O gauge layout has a caboose! I even bought a Jersey Transit caboose at the last train show I went to! What the hell I'm going to do with it I don't know but I'll figure something out. Maybe commuter trains look better with a caboose as well? Besides, with no caboose how are you supposed to know the freight train's over? But now the really important question is, is Joe Biden a steam freak?
Now we're getting someplace!
54light15I would like the new president to consider that the Twentieth Century Limited and Super Chief be reinstated immediately. No, I DEMAND it! Action will be taken! But what kind, I have no idea.
Completely agree, but let's save these for a future proposal. We need to address this caboose travesty first.
Flintlock76I even bought a Jersey Transit caboose at the last train show I went to! What the hell I'm going to do with it I don't know but I'll figure something out.
Shock Control 54light15 I would like the new president to consider that the Twentieth Century Limited and Super Chief be reinstated immediately. No, I DEMAND it! Action will be taken! But what kind, I have no idea. Completely agree, but let's save these for a future proposal. We need to address this caboose travesty first.
54light15 I would like the new president to consider that the Twentieth Century Limited and Super Chief be reinstated immediately. No, I DEMAND it! Action will be taken! But what kind, I have no idea.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Murphy SidingWhy stop there? Wouldn't you need a steam locomotive on the front to do it justice?
As a devotee of mid-century modernism, I prefer F units, which can be the focus of a separate proposal once we reinstate the caboose. But I appreciate your support of steam, and will happily sign your petition at the right time.
OvermodDisplay it outside your scale recreation of the ex-CNJ Jersey City terminal and E'port shop complex.
Jeez, don't I WISH I could do a scale recreation of the JC terminal and E'port shop complex! The "Chugger Barn" is just too small and the living and dining rooms of the house are hands-off!
A generic North Jersey town on the 4 x 8 is the best I can do. For now.
Like I said, I'll think of something.
I accepted I missed the steam era (except for one loco, one time, on the Bonhommie & Hattiesburg Southern) with some resignation.
But when we lost cabooses, that felt like a kick in the stomach. As did Amtrak being spelled with a "k."
Obviously, our man Shock Control is not serious. But it would be great, in some alternative universe.
Lithonia OperatorI accepted I missed the steam era (except for one loco, one time, on the Bonhommie & Hattiesburg Southern) with some resignation. But when we lost cabooses, that felt like a kick in the stomach. As did Amtrak being spelled with a "k."
Amtrak dropped the "c" in "track," and then we lost the caboose, which begins with the letter "c."
Coincidence? Or shall I say, "oincidence?"
Once you're thrown the length of the caboose by slack action, you'll understand why they're gone.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
tree68Once you're thrown the length of the caboose by slack action, you'll understand why they're gone.
No one cares about the intricacies about how railroads work. We demand cabooses for their aesthetic appeal.
Shock Control Lithonia Operator I accepted I missed the steam era (except for one loco, one time, on the Bonhommie & Hattiesburg Southern) with some resignation. But when we lost cabooses, that felt like a kick in the stomach. As did Amtrak being spelled with a "k." Amtrak dropped the "c" in "track," and then we lost the caboose, which begins with the letter "c." Coincidence? Or shall I say, "oincidence?"
Lithonia Operator I accepted I missed the steam era (except for one loco, one time, on the Bonhommie & Hattiesburg Southern) with some resignation. But when we lost cabooses, that felt like a kick in the stomach. As did Amtrak being spelled with a "k."
Learly an onspiracy.
Shock ControlCoincidence? Or shall I say, "oincidence?"
Koinsidense. Why do we need the "C"? Only for the "CH" sound.
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Lithonia Operator But when we lost cabooses, that felt like a kick in the stomach. As did Amtrak being spelled with a "k.
But when we lost cabooses, that felt like a kick in the stomach. As did Amtrak being spelled with a "k.
You could always go back to calling it "Railpax", or should that be Railpaks, or perhaps Railpacks?
As an aside, did Amtrak ever use NPRC as their reporting mark?
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
tree68 Once you're thrown the length of the caboose by slack action, you'll understand why they're gone.
Conductor: "I don't know what you did up there, but your share of the stew is on the floor!"
Engineer: "Just hold on, I'll put it back in a minute!"
You should say "oinidene". Just like Lithonia should have said "onspiray"
It's only foolish onsisteny that's a hobgoblin of small minds.
Just say no to drugs...
Shock Control Let's face it: Freight trains without cabeese just look wrong. They look cheap and incomplete, and as such, they do not instill confidence in potential freight customers. Do you think we could petition our upcoming rail-friendly President to reinstate the caboose on freight trains? Doing so would provide jobs for the rail industry, and give us one more person to wave to as the train passes by. The caboose will allow the railroad industry to be more accurate in its reflection of model railroads. It will also send a strong signal to industry that railroads are the way to go when shipping freight. What sayest thou?
A caboose does not "send a strong signal to industry". Potential freight customers don't care if the model railroads are accurate in their portrayal of the real thing. They care about their freight arriving when promised, at the cheapest rate possible. A caboose doesn't help with that.
An "expensive model collector"
BackshopJust say no to drugs...
Caboose has the same likelyhood of coming back as the coal fired steam engine does of replacing the diesels.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.