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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by M.W. Hemphill I'm not aware of any government regulation that requires a caboose on the federal or state level. There might be a local union agreements that require them, however. Yes, the caboose is there for convenience on long shoves. Operating rules forbid shoving "blind" over a public road crossing. There has to be a man there to protect the crossing. Also, there might be switches to throw and joints to break and make. Hanging on the ladder of a freight car on a long move is uncomfortable, tiring, and not very safe -- you have to hang there with one hand and work the packset or give hand signals with the other. So in instances where long blind moves are made every day, the caboose is provided as a platform for the rear man to stand on. The train will still have an EOT device in most cases. [/quote] Mark is correct, the caboose is mainly a creature of union agreement. There are actually very few true cabooses in use anymore. Most of what is described in this thread are cabooses being used as "shoving platforms" for the reasons noted. The reason I refer to them as Shoving Platforms instead of cabooses is that most, if not all of these cars have been modified to preclude their use as actual cabooses by welding of the doors or other modifications to keep the crew from using them as actual cabooses. Why? Three reasons. First, the caboose was statistically one of the largest sources of employee personal injury claims so avoiding their use saves on claims. Second, employees using a caboose tend to go inside and sit down during shove moves instead of remaining on the end platform of the car. This has caused several serious accidents and at least one fatality that I know of. Third, employees who want extra pay can often manipulate the situation as a result of arbitraries associated with the availability of a caboose. LC
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