Where did they go, I think they were cool at the end of the train and stuff. Maybe we should all write letters to the railways and then they could be back on the trains…
Yah!
Most have been razor blades and coffee cans for a LONG time. Those few that are left are usually in museums or city parks.
Unfortunately, asking railroads to bring back cabooses would be like asking United to start flying DC-3s again.
How about steam locos on the front end too? Link and pin couplers would be a nice touch also.
Hold on there! You just have to look! There are still a lot of crummies around. Even the majors still use them on branch runs and locals, especially if there is a lot of backwards running. Also a great many are turning up as vacation cabins and B&B’s. There are ads in magazines, and dealers for them for such uses, and a little research on your part will dig them up. Enjoy the chase! Out in Port Angeles there is one, (a BN steel) used as an office at a landscaping materials company, and just down the road from there is a B&B that has 7 or 8 cabooses some green, some red, plus a fluted side Stainless Steel diner for the breakfast part. Not sure but I think it was a CB&Q. jc5729 John Colley, Port Townsend, Wa
As technology advances, so do the ways the railroads function. Most cabooses were replaced with EOTD’s and FRED’s. They took the place of the guy in the cabboose that controlled the train’s air brake pressure. Since the new technology took over, the cabooses are not needed anymore so i guess they all go to caboose heaven…chuck
When I was a kid (mid 60s), my dad had a chance to get an old wood caboose for $100. We had a small lot on a tiny lake in NW Ohio to put it,but he could not figure a way to get it transported the 45 or so miles. I have no idea what line it was from…I remember it had been repainted safety yellow, and had no markings, but it was on a long abandoned siding off the old Wabash. The old caboose ended up being scrapped in the mid 80s, after it mostly collapsed, and the ground was wanted for a housing development [:(]
Actually some railroads do still use cabooses. I know the Union Railroad in western pennsylvania does. Also some older cabooses have been assigned to railroads’ police departments for use on military shipments and valuable intermodal or autorack trains. In those cases however the caboose is spotted in the middle of the train so the officers have quick access to all the cars. These days cabooses are used on trains that either require traveling backwards for long distances or on various local freights.
Santa Fe sold of most of theirs to the general public. $500-$2500 delivered anywhere on the system. The biggest problem was where to park it once you purchased it. That is always the problem with full size equipment. I could have had ex-Amtrack passenger cars from $50-$2500 too, but even one requires a lot of realestate.
Here’s a few that are still running in New Hampshire:
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo=2007051006483231447.jpg&order=bydate&page=30&key=
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo=2007051007135131654.jpg&order=bydate&page=30&key=
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo=2007051007105031626.jpg&order=bydate&page=30&key=
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo=2007051007071331601.jpg&order=bydate&page=30&key=
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo=2007051006515431494.jpg&order=bydate&page=30&key=
Not sure of the story behind it, but they appear to be privately owned and on occasion go on excursions.