Whatever happened to the 'ol caboose?

[eolafan]

I also miss the caboose, not necessarilly because of the safety issue (although that is very important), but for me because it usually had a conductor who waved to us when he went by (they usually had little else to do but watch his/her train and wave to railfans).

[JoeKoh]

Yes sadly fred has taken over.However there are a few places where railroads use cabooses on switching duties like the local gm plant here.
stay safe
joe

[JoeKoh]

Yes sadly fred has taken over.However there are a few places where railroads use cabooses on switching duties like the local gm plant here.
stay safe
joe

[sooblue]

Exactly,
I don't think FRED can let the engineer know that there is a car stuck under the 89th car of a 100 car freight.
Luckly the woman in the car had a cell phone.
(true story)

[sooblue]

Exactly,
I don't think FRED can let the engineer know that there is a car stuck under the 89th car of a 100 car freight.
Luckly the woman in the car had a cell phone.
(true story)

[Anonymous]

Dumb question...with all of these really long trains, how do the people up in the engines know what's going on 60+ cars back?

[Anonymous]

Dumb question...with all of these really long trains, how do the people up in the engines know what's going on 60+ cars back?

[sooblue]

My caboose got bigger with age (oh! wrong forum)
Actualy I miss the caboose, I think that even today they make sense to have on a train but I am not a bean counter.
It's all about beans.
Sooblue

[sooblue]

My caboose got bigger with age (oh! wrong forum)
Actualy I miss the caboose, I think that even today they make sense to have on a train but I am not a bean counter.
It's all about beans.
Sooblue

[Anonymous]

Can anyone provide a brief history of when cabooses started to disappear and why? I've heard some different reasons over the years, but I don't know if any of them are true.

It's a bit weird -- I remember when I was growing it always seemed that typically all trains had an engine, a bunch of cars and a caboose. Now, with my kids growing up, all the trains we see everyday don't have a caboose anymore. For them, if they ever saw a train with one it would be an oddity. Interesting how time changes things.

[Anonymous]

Can anyone provide a brief history of when cabooses started to disappear and why? I've heard some different reasons over the years, but I don't know if any of them are true.

It's a bit weird -- I remember when I was growing it always seemed that typically all trains had an engine, a bunch of cars and a caboose. Now, with my kids growing up, all the trains we see everyday don't have a caboose anymore. For them, if they ever saw a train with one it would be an oddity. Interesting how time changes things.