I know some of the reasons why but I kinda figure there are more reasons why they.
Dont one reason might be because it got to much for the railroads to operate them which may or may not be ture. Another reason I think because they wanted to elminante the postion of the conductor.
The official line from the railroad companies is they cost money that could be better spent elsewhere, they did not measurabley add to the safety of the train operations and they increased the likelihood of injuries to employees riding in them.
Their thoughts, not mine.
Since they are gone, I am relieved there are no live persons at the rear of some of these 8,000’-9,000’ trains we are given to handle these days. The slack action must be brutal back there sometimes.
Simple reason…Cost and 2 man crews.
The cost of maintaining Cabs, both as a rail car and as a car used for human occupancy were very high. Operationally cabs had to be switched into and out of trains that used yard engine hours and manpower. With today’s 9000 foot and longer trains I can only imagine the effects of slack action are at the rear of a ‘whip’ that long.
The down side of not having a cab presents itself every time a train has and undesired emergency application of the brakes…without personnel on the cab, the train can only be inspected from one direction…by the time the conductor walks 18000 feet on main track ballast, in the middle of the night, with a brakemans lantern in pouring rain or wind driven snow storm 2 or 3 hours or more can elapse…all the while that track, be it single main or one of multiple tracks is totally idled. Train inspection from both ends minimized the length of time trains were stopped by minor mechanical malfunction.
uhhh… They still have conductors, its just that they do all the switching instead of the fireman/brakeman.
I seem to recall seeing a figure some years back that a standard over-the-road crummy cost in the neighborhood of $100,000 - and that was probably 1980s dollars - a lot of investment for a specialized piece of rolling stock. Also sited by the the railroads was the number of extra moves that cutting a caboose on and off of locals during switching required…
In order to make a decent profit, and to keep SOME people working, they looked for any excuse to cut either non-paying tonnage or labour. Diesels don’t have tenders, so they were not an issue. Crew whose contributions to efficiency were dubious were an item of attention, mainly due to increased wages and safety concerns, as suggested above. An elegant, if cold-hearted, solution could be achieved by relieving the train of one item; the caboose. Poof: no more wages, no more paid benefits, no more pension liability (have we come across that recently, say in the auto industry?), no more fuel waste hauling 14 tons at the rear of lenghtening trains, and no more maintenance/replacement costs for the cabooses. Remember, there was one at the end of EACH train, so their costs were not negligible.
2 main resons… technology…and cost cutting…
csx engineer
ALSO… A lot of personal injuries from slack action… equates to $$$$$$$$$$$$.
Virlon
save your ticket… the P.E. will rise again.
BNSF has a caboose in Corona California, on the Riverside line. I’ve seen it sitting on a siding in an industrial area just SE of the Interstate 15/91 Freeway interchange. Last Tuesday morning (6/21) it had been moved out on an industrial lead while the local job switched covered hoppers. Has anybody else seen it or know what it’s used for?
I have seen a BNSF caboose in operation on a short mixed freight that, I think, services local industry in the Anaheim/Orange/Santa Ana area. I have seen it go thru the Fullerton station in both directions at different times. The last time the train was backing east thru the station with two men leaning on the rail at the rear of the caboose.
Jack
Cabbooses are stiill used in specialized applications, especially where backup moves are frequent and where crew size is larger than normal.
Like said above… Show me the money!
Adrianspeeder
EOTD!
Don’t they use a caboose on the San Jacinto branch?
There was a post a while back that showed some cabooses still in action.
You will still see the odd caboose on some locals. It provides a safe place for a brakeman to ride at the end of the train, and can save a lot of time if there is a lot of switching to be done (remember: if you move a train into a siding, someone has to throw the switch for the move, then line in back, then when you want to come out, you have to throw the switch again for the move, and then line it back – all of which takes a lot of walking if you don’t have a man at both ends of the train!). This type of move tends to have two brakemen, or one brakeman plus the conductor and engineer, rather than just a two man crew.
Otherwise, with EOTDs on a through (not swtiching) train, you really don’t need a man back there, especially if the EOTD is smart (has a way to report the end of pipe pressure and can dump the air by remote control). The conductor is still part of the two man crew (conductor and engineer). The positions which got lost were the brakemen.
Big money saver. You really did not know that? [:o)][:)]
[quote]
Originally posted by railfan619
[
I found this on the AAR website:
Why don’t railroads use cabooses anymore?
Railroads simply made them better!
The “little red caboose” at the end of freight trains had been there so long, most people think they are still there. But, like the steam locomotive of sixty years ago, the caboose has become a thing of the past.
The caboose was heading towards obsolescence for many years, as increasing railroad automation took over more and more of the functions formerly performed by the crew members who rode cabooses. For instance, the caboose is no longer needed as an office for the conductor, since the conductor’s paperwork has been greatly reduced by computerization. It is no longer necessary for crew members to be stationed in the caboose to serve as lookouts for worn or dragging equipment, wheel malfunctions or other operational problems. Such problems, which are far rarer now than they once were, can quickly be detected by various kinds of sensors stationed along the tracks and attached to the end of the train. Modern switching, signaling and communication systems have reduced the need for crew to be at the rear of the train to perform manual switching of tracks, signaling with flags and other such functions.
Things changed in 1982. The major railroads negotiated many issues involving modernization with the transportation unions, and the caboose was let loose from the rest of the freight train at that time. They concluded that cabooses “may be eliminated in each class of [freight train] service without undermining safety and operational considerations.” The Board further expressed the belief that “the elimination of cabooses should be an on-going national program,” negotiated locally.
A subsequent labor agreement negotiated in 1985 allowed for total elimination of cabooses from unit-type trains (i.e. trains carrying a single commodity, such a coal or grain), and from intermodal-type trains (such as “piggyback” trains or double
Cost… Everyone wants more money!!! and new improvements in technology!
John
coborn,
Thanks for posting that, I enjoyed reading it.