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Will Our Rail-Friendly President Reinstate the Caboose?

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, December 18, 2020 4:03 PM

Flintlock76
 
BaltACD

Caboose has the same likelyhood of coming back as the coal fired steam engine does of replacing the diesels. 

Stranger things have happened.  In 1960 whoever thought muzzleloading firearms would get popular again?

Hence my avatar.

Popular as curiosity's, not as first rank firearms.  We alread have the curiosity steam engines operating as various tourist attractions - some of which probably have a caboose in their operation.  Neither steam nor cabooses will become the requirements of operating one of the current Class 1's profitably. 

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, December 18, 2020 3:52 PM

BaltACD

Caboose has the same likelyhood of coming back as the coal fired steam engine does of replacing the diesels.

 

Stranger things have happened.  In 1960 whoever thought muzzleloading firearms would get popular again?

Hence my avatar.

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, December 18, 2020 2:27 PM

Erik_Mag
You misspelled Kalmbah.

Fixed before you posted.  I had to pee.

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Posted by Erik_Mag on Friday, December 18, 2020 2:25 PM

You misspelled Kalmbah.

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, December 18, 2020 2:22 PM

Murphy Siding
You quoted me, but that wasn't me. It was Shok ontrol.

You are orrect, and I have hanged the post aordingly.  I have no idea what rap Kalmbah ommitted to put your name in that itation; I used their 'add quote to your post' faility.

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Posted by wjstix on Friday, December 18, 2020 1:54 PM

Prez-to-be Biden has long been a champion of Amtrak and passenger rail, don't know that I can recall him saying anything re freight trains / railroads. I believe as a Senator he did vote 'yes' on the Staggers rail deregulation act under Pres. Carter.

Stix
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Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, December 18, 2020 1:51 PM

Overmod
 
Murphy Siding
Coincidence?  Or shall I say, "oincidence?"

 

You should say "oinidene".  Just like Lithonia should have said "onspiray"

It's only foolish onsisteny that's a hobgoblin of small minds.

 

You quoted me, but that wasn't me. It was Shok ontrol. Geeked

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Posted by Shock Control on Friday, December 18, 2020 1:42 PM

Electroliner 1935
 Your demands and $5.15 will get you a cup of coffee. But its [sic] a nice diversion from other threads on the forum. Keep dreaming. Never know what might come of them.

Unless our rail-friendly President-Elect shares my concerns!  Yes

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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Friday, December 18, 2020 1:25 PM

Shock Control
No one cares about the intricacies about how railroads work.  We demand cabooses for their aesthetic appeal. 

Your demands and $5.15 will get you a cup of coffee. But its a nice diversion from other threads on the forum. Keep dreaming. Never know what might come of them.

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Posted by Paul Milenkovic on Friday, December 18, 2020 1:09 PM

BaltACD

Caboose has the same likelyhood of coming back as the coal fired steam engine does of replacing the diesels.

 

As the Jim Carrey character in a movie told a woman who was trying to  brush him off, "So you're telling me there's a chance!"

so you're telling me there's a chance - Bing video

If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, December 18, 2020 1:06 PM

York1
This thread is taking up valuable space that should be used for discussing a real issue -- the disappearance of wigwag crossing signals.

They were nearly all gone by the time I was a teenager --I found the one remaining one on the Erie Northern Branch in Northvale and was astounded, as if I'd found a dodo or a live dinosaur.

What needs discussion is the loss of real crossing signals -- the Holley Rudd kind with red glass lenses and real bells.  There are surprisingly few of them in the places I go, now, and it's troubling to think of them only in museums like the remaining Patenall CPL heads...

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Posted by York1 on Friday, December 18, 2020 1:01 PM

This whole topic is silly.

This thread is taking up valuable space that should be used for discussing a real issue -- the disappearance of wigwag crossing signals.

York1 John       

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, December 18, 2020 1:01 PM

Ulrich
... back in those days it was nice to get a wave from someone up in the cupola.

I shudder slightly to think that the generation after ours might be saying the same thing about a wave from a cab...

(NOT to reopen the troll session about waving! Surprise)

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Posted by Ulrich on Friday, December 18, 2020 12:57 PM

I well remember several TV documentaries and interviews back in the 1980s when the elimination of the caboose was imminent. The sky was going to fall, and with it safety and everything else. Yet here we are.. But having grown up in the 70s I do miss seeing them.. and back in those days it was nice to get a wave from someone up in the cupola. 

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Posted by Shock Control on Friday, December 18, 2020 12:52 PM

n012944
Potential freight customers  don't care if the model railroads are accurate in their portrayal of the real thing.

Model Railroads are the real thing.  It is about life-size railroads being accurate in their portrayal of model railroads.  As Oscar Wilde said, "There was no fog in London until Whistler started painting it."  

 

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, December 18, 2020 12:50 PM

n012944
A caboose doesn't help with that.  

And it's a lot easier to move an EOT/FRED than it is a caboose...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by SD70Dude on Friday, December 18, 2020 12:48 PM

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, December 18, 2020 12:45 PM

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!

              

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, December 18, 2020 12:41 PM

Backshop
Just say no to drugs...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svstp1CWuF0

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Posted by n012944 on Friday, December 18, 2020 12:38 PM

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?

 

Confused

 

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"

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Posted by Backshop on Friday, December 18, 2020 12:36 PM

Just say no to drugs...

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, December 18, 2020 12:34 PM

Shock Control
Coincidence?  Or shall I say, "oincidence?"

You should say "oinidene".  Just like Lithonia should have said "onspiray"

It's only foolish onsisteny that's a hobgoblin of small minds.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, December 18, 2020 12:11 PM

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?"

 

Oh ome on now. That's razy talk.

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Posted by SD70Dude on Friday, December 18, 2020 11:55 AM

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!"

Greetings from Alberta

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Posted by SD70Dude on Friday, December 18, 2020 11:53 AM

Lithonia Operator

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

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Posted by Paul of Covington on Friday, December 18, 2020 11:40 AM

Shock Control
Coincidence?  Or shall I say, "oincidence?"

   Koinsidense.  Why do we need the "C"?  Only for the "CH" sound.

_____________ 

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Posted by MMLDelete on Friday, December 18, 2020 11:35 AM

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?"

 

Learly an onspiracy.

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Posted by Shock Control on Friday, December 18, 2020 11:29 AM

tree68
Once 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. 

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, December 18, 2020 11:23 AM

Once you're thrown the length of the caboose by slack action, you'll understand why they're gone.

LarryWhistling
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...

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Posted by Shock Control on Friday, December 18, 2020 11:20 AM

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?"

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