Today's freight trains, roaring along without their once-familiar tail-ends, look as if they've forgotten and left something behind. Second-story cupolas, a development of the Civil War era, allowed better visibility, as did the bay window, which largely replaced the cupola. In the 1840s, as railcars began to make longer runs, they fitted out smaller freight cars with stoves and desks. The first ones were merely converted boxcars. The caboose wasn't just a dining car, but an office and home-away-from home, too. So, you can see, "crummy" is sort of a natural nickname. During their runs, trainmen cooked and ate in their cabooses, and veteran railroaders recall that if anyone dropped a single crumb, the crew would really raise cain. The word "caboose" comes from an old Dutch work meaning cookhouse. We've just learned - honestly! - that "crummy" is railroad slang for a caboose. Lee Heiman, in the March 1989 Call of the Pewee, provided some additional historical background on cabooses: Rail sensors monitor cars for fires, axle problems and dragging items, and radio technology controls the brakes. Computers have taken over the conductor's function. The caboose had last moved in 1991 and would need some repairs before it could move again. It was intact and on an active rail siding. ATSF 999565 was a Santa Fe model CE-9 caboose built by American Car & Foundry in 1927, then rebuilt by Santa Fe in 1970 and again in 1978. It was intact and on an active rail siding. It didn’t take long to decide on the classic red caboose in Iowa. Technology rendered the caboose obsolete. ATSF 999565 was a Santa Fe model CE-9 caboose built by American Car & Foundry in 1927, then rebuilt by Santa Fe in 1970 and again in 1978. Conductors monitored where the trains were and where to drop cars off. It was where printed "waybills" were kept for every freight car from its origin to its destination. The caboose also served as the train conductor's office. Lanterns were used to communicate with the engineer. While the train was in motion, the brakeman and flagman would use the caboose's cupola and large window to watch for signs of trouble. When the train stopped, the flagman jumped out and used lanterns and warning flags to stop any approaching trains. Before automatic air brakes, it was the brakeman's job to twist the brakewheels atop the cars with a stout club when the engineer signaled with his whistle that he wanted to stop or slow down. Because they weren't assigned to certain trains, cabooses traveled for millions of miles and were standard features on every freight train until the 1980s.Ĭabooses were manned by a brakeman and flagman. Peweean Greg Rose, who worked in the railroad repair yard for some years, says our caboose was made of wood in the South Louisville Shop.
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