Information AboutCaboose |
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.]] caboose in January 1943 .]] A caboose (US Railway Terminology ) or '''brake van''' or '''guard's van''' (British terminology) is a manned Rail Transport Vehicle coupled at the end of a Freight Train . Although cabooses were once used on nearly every freight train, their use has declined and they are seldom seen on regular trains except on locals and smaller railroads. The purpose of the caboose is to allow the Train to be supervised from the rear and ensure that cars from the train do not separate without the crew's knowledge. Should the train make an unscheduled stop, the crew on the caboose can protect the rear of the train and signal for assistance. Cabooses typically have curved grab rails at each end, to facilitate train-crew members' ascent onto a moving train. The caboose is also used to monitor the cars and load making up the train, making sure there are no problems — load shifting dangerously, overheating Axleboxes on the cars ('' Hot Boxes '') that could cause fire, etc. A caboose is also fitted with red lights called ''markers'' to enable the rear of the train to be seen at night. This has led to the phrase ''bringing up the markers'' to describe the last car on a train. (These lights were officially what made a train a "train.") The British form of caboose, the brake van or '''guard's van''' would also feature a hand operated brake wheel allowing the guard riding in the brake van to apply the brakes on the brake van. In the days before automatic brakes were fitted to freight vehicles, this could be used to provide additional braking power in addition to the locomotive's. Also the brake van could be used to stop the train in the case of rear end of the train becoming unattached to the front end. Caboose types Just like Passenger Car s, there are several types of cabooses. Some of the more common types include the following: Cupola or "standard" caboose , Green Bay, Wisconsin ]] Above the roofline of the caboose is a small windowed area for the crew, called a Cupola , which provides a view of the cars ahead. The cupola was usually offset toward one end of the caboose; different railroads had standard practices of always running the caboose with the cupola either at the front or the rear, but for all practical purposes, they could be safely run in either direction. Some railroads in the eastern US built cabooses with cupolas directly in the middle of the car to alleviate confusion over whether the car was turned in the right direction. After World War II , US railroad car manufacturers began building cupola cabooses with cupola walls that were cantilevered beyond the side of the car by several inches. This allowed those riding in the cupola to get a better view of the side of the train when the train was on a straight (tangent) section of track without leaning out the side windows. The crew could ride more safely and stay out of the weather. The cupola caboose was the most common type of caboose in American railroad use. .]] Bay window caboose On a bay window caboose, the crew monitoring the train sits in the middle of the car in a section of wall that is extended to the side up to about a foot. The windows set into these extended walls resemble architectural Bay Window s, so the caboose type is called a bay window caboose. Some railroads use very tall freight cars that block the view from a cupola. In these cases, a bay window or wide-vision caboose would be used instead. Extended Vision Caboose The Extended Vision (EVC) or Wide-Vision caboose incorporates both the standard and bay window design. With the cupola high and extended outward on both sides, this allows the crew to see more forward along the train to look for trouble. The EVC were also more comfortable with a more spacious design and a roomier cabin. EVC dominated the rails between the late 40’s to the early 80’s. Transfer caboose A transfer caboose looks more like a Flat Car with a box bolted to the middle of it than it does a standard caboose. This type of caboose did not require sleeping, cooking or restroom facilities because it was used at the end of trains transferring cars between nearby rail yards. Such transfer runs seldom travelled more than twenty miles, and were usually of much shorter duration. The ends of a transfer caboose were left open with safety railings surrounding the area between the crew compartment and the end of the car. #18065, a transfer caboose.]] The Great Northern Railway converted four of its Baldwin VO-1000 Switcher locomotives into transfer cabooses in 1964. The units were stripped to their bare frames (the original AAR Type-A switcher Trucks and distinctive cast steps were left in place) and fitted with 15-foot-long steel cabins. Drover's caboose Drover's cabooses looked more like Combine Car s than standard cabooses. The purpose of a drover's caboose was much more like a combine as well. On longer Livestock trains in the American Southwest , the drover's caboose is where the livestock's handlers would ride between the Ranch and processing plant. The train crew rode in the caboose section while the livestock handlers rode in the Coach section. Drover's cabooses used either cupolas or bay windows in the caboose section for the train crew to monitor the train. The word "caboose" The first usage in print of "caboose" in its railroad sense was in 1861, at which time it must already have been in circulation among American railroadmen. The railroad historian David L. Joslyn, a retired Southern Pacific draftsman, connected "caboose" to an older, nautical usage (1747) derived from Low German ''kabhuse'', a "wooden cabin" on a ship's deck, giving the Middle Dutch word ''kabuis'', the compartment on a ship's Deck in which cooking is done. This usage is now rare, as the ''galley'' moved belowdecks, whereas the Dutch word transformed into ''kombuis.'' The first cabooses, not unlike the nautical originals, were wooden shanties built on flatcars, as early as the 1830s. There is some disagreement on what constitutes the proper Plural form of the word "caboose". Similar words, like Goose (pluralized as "geese"), and Moose (pluralized as "moose", no change) point to the reason for the difficulty in coming to a solid Consensus . The most common pluralization of caboose is "cabooses", with many arguing that this is incorrect, and (as with the word moose), it should stay the same in plural form. A less-seriously used pluralization of the word is "cabeese" (following the pluralization rule for the word Goose , which is "geese"). This particular form is almost universally used in an attempt at Humor (as, presumably, is "cabice"). Slang terms Among rail crews the caboose was sometimes called a "crummy" (as in a crummy place to live), not elegant, often too hot or too cold, and perhaps not especially clean. Other nicknames used were "clown wagon," "hack," "waycar," "brainbox," "palace," and "cabin". FRED, the end of an era Until the 1980s , laws in the United States and Canada required that all freight trains have a caboose. Technology eventually advanced such that a caboose was unnecessary; improved bearings and Lineside Detectors to detect hot boxes, better designed cars to avoid problems with the load. The final nail for the caboose came with an electronic box with the innocent name of "FRED," an acronym for Flashing Rear-end Device , or "EOT," End-of-Train device. A FRED/EOT could be attached to the rear of the train to detect the train's air brake pressure and report any problems back to the locomotive. The conductor moved up to the front of the train with the engineer and year by year, cabooses started to fade away. Very few cabooses remain in operation today. Preservation of cabooses With their regular use now greatly decreased, cabooses have become popular for collection by railroad museums and for city parks and other civic uses, such as visitor centers. Several railroad museums roster large numbers of cabooses, including the Illinois Railway Museum with 19 examples and the Western Pacific Railroad Museum at Portola (California) with 17. Reuse of cabooses constructed from railcars]] Cabooses have been re-used as garden offices in private residences, and as portions of restaurants. Also, caboose motels have appeared, with the old cars being reborn as cabins. References # Note|etymonline}} Online Etymology Dictionary, '' caboose ''. # Note|UP-CabooseHistory}} Union Pacific Railroad, '' The Caboose's Early Uses ''. External links
For more about working/riding cabooses, see: |