Have you ever heard the expression, “move your caboose?” I always knew caboose signified a person’s backside, but I never took the time to think where the word came from. A caboose is actually a manned railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter at the end of the train for the workers. A train caboose man was a title given to someone who “switched and shunted,” to keep a lookout for load shifting and damage to equipment and cargo as well as overheating axles.
The caboose provided the train crew with a shelter at the rear of the train. The crew could exit the train for switching or to protect the rear of the train when stopped. The conductor kept records and handled business from a table or desk in the caboose. For longer trips, the caboose provided minimal living quarters, and was frequently personalized and decorated with pictures and posters.
Early cabooses were nothing more than flat cars with small cabins erected on them, or modified box cars. The standard form of the American caboose had a platform at either end with curved grab rails to facilitate train crew members’ ascent onto a moving train. A caboose was fitted with red lights called markers to enable the rear of the train to be seen at night. Originally lit with oil lamps, with the advent of electricity, later caboose versions incorporated an electrical generator driven by belts coupled to one of the axles, which charged a lead-acid storage battery when the train was in motion.
Cabooses were used on every freight train until the 1980s, when safety laws requiring the presence of cabooses and full crews were relaxed. Developments in monitoring and safety technology such as lineside defect detectors and end of train devices resulted in crew reductions and the phasing out of caboose cars. Nowadays, they are generally only used on rail maintenance or hazardous materials trains, or on tourist railroads.
References:
https://www.up.com/aboutup/history/caboose/index.htm
http://trn.trains.com/railroads/railroad-history/2006/05/the-colorful-caboose
Photo by Jack Dellano
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