CSX and NS use old cabeese on extended shoves around the DC area, primarily when they are servicing the many power plants around here. Both railroads store a lot of loaded and unloaded hoppers alongside the tracks until they are needed. NS keeps one caboose at the small intermodal yard off Van Dorn St in Alexandria, next to the UPS facility. It is a lovely red and graphiti scheme. If there is a gang member from this area that has not tagged, they are not trying!
used as hostlers platform along with RC locos
NS uses some in local and/or yard switching service. [:D]
Yeah, I saw a caboose used on a special NS shipment (2 covered flat cars).
CSX uses a caboose along the Cleveland waterfront on occasion. I took this photo of CSXT904003 in the summer of 2005. It looks like it is fresh out of the shops. I suspect it is an old NYC caboose that used to frequent the waterfront in its original colors with a CSX road number painted on the side. Regretfully, I never had a camera on hand then.
Here in Milwaukee the CP uses ex-SOO cabooses/shove cars on the run from the docks to the yard in the valley. Some days there can be quite a few of these runs, and they’re very easy to see from for the public because of the elevated trackage in Walker’s Point.
I’ve also, but more rarely, seen them running along the trackage down through downtown from one of my favourite trainwatching spots, the padio deck at the Milwaukee Ale House.
Cheers!
~METRO
It’s interesting actually, these modern day uses for cabooses. Like CSX, and as mentioned, they’re being used as shoving platforms and short yard runs. I’ve also seen cabooses as “research and development cars”, which business cars evidently are also used for. Are those just offices for track inspection/work trains?
All these cabooses seem to be at least 20 or 30 years old, probably a lot older…and I assume they haven’t made a new caboose in 30 years or so. (when were FREDs initiated…1980?). So it looks like there is a legitimate use for such platforms today, even by class ones. I wonder…what they will do when these cars just rust away? Will they build more, or more likely, will they build a whole new kind of platform for shoving, yard and local switching duties?
I first remember seeing trains w/o cabooses in 1986. So it would stand to reason that Freds got there start a few years prior.
Railroads will most likely rebuild existing cabooses and get as many miles out of them as possible.
Found these NS pics:
Seems that they have a dozen or more “active” cabooses in Virginia alone! Though most were as derelict and graffiti-riven, like the rusty one here at the end. Guess they are the “shoving platforms”. No bay window cabooses, which seems odd. I would have thought they had a bunch from Conrail. These here must be ex-N&W.
Interesting, the middle one has a solar panel. Well, that’s an easy piece of styrene! And I guess I’ll need to go heavy on the weathering. [swg]
I have read that some city ordinances require RR to use cabooses - possibly where there is street running and/or a lot of grade crossings… can anyone shed any light on this please?
TIA [8D]
I’ve done some digging around on cabooses lately, looking for an excuse to use them, and I didn’t run across anything like a legal requirement for RRs to use them. Though it might make practical sense for them to do so in urban environments as you indicated. Seems like a lot of the are indeed holed up in city yards. Last state to drop legal requirement to use cabooses was Virginia, in 1988. Canada dropped the requirement in 1987.
Did run across this interesting article quote in 1985 by Norfolk Southern chairmen Robert Claytor on why it made such sense to stop using cabooses:
“Today’s caboose costs about $80,000 - more than the cost of most freight cars - and weighs about 25 tons. It can be replaced with a box that costs about $4000 and weighs 35 pounds. The end-of-train monitor doesn’t have to be switched through terminals and doesn’t require expensive maintenance or special yard track.The fact of the matter is that the caboose is certainly the most dangerous place to ride.”
Yea cabooses where really dangerous(unless you in a head on derailment). I’ve heard one story that there where really bad eningeers that if they throttled it too fast the people in side would be knocked over. And the people in the caupolas whould probably fall out.
The UP uses one of two bay window cabooses almost daily on the Jone’s Island job. On colder days, I’ve seen smoke rising from the chimney, so the stove most certainly is functional. They are usually parked at the Mitchell yard with their GP38-2 engines. I’ve seen them use it shove back home, and I’ve also seen them turn the train at the wye in St. Francis.