WHAT IS A CABOOSE ??

Every since I turned 30 I envied the youth. Once the Millennials became vocal, I realized how fortunate I am. (I am 70 now.)

I do miss the caboose at the end of the train.

https://youtu.be/9erKE8aE5kg

The caboose filmed for the outdoor portion of that segment is the 1912 Detroit & Mackinac caboose W52.  I was the engineer at the other end of the train for a couple segments of the filming.  It's pretty neat to see our equipment operating on National TV.

Jim, Yes indeed it makes me feel old at 62.  My wife is a school nurse, and she has had this happen more than once where she has a child use the desk phone to call home to Mom, and the child didn't know how to hold the receiver to talk and listen.

What do you mean cabooses disappeared? Every train on MY layout has them !!!

Jim...hand a kid a rotary phone!! Or worse a candlestick phone like Andy Griffith used!

My daughter found a video of two teenage-20 something boys trying to figure out a rotary phone...haven't laughed that hard in years. 

Taconite Hauler posted:

What do you mean cabooses disappeared? Every train on MY layout has them !!!

Ha! Eggcellent! Same on the Plywood Empire Route:

Lew

I don't have many cabooses....but I have a lot of Cabin Cars.....

and they've multiplied since then...

Steamer posted:

I don't have many cabooses....but I have a lot of Cabin Cars.....

and they've multiplied since then...

Same here

Freight Train Jim posted:

Does that make you feel old or what ???

Nope, makes me glad I grew up when I did.  

Hi JIM,

  I watched the show Innovation Nation with MO ROCCA.  The thing that I noticed was where the word CABOOSE came from.  CAB HOUSE.  Then shortened to CABOOSE!!!!  Cool show.

SantaFe158 posted:

The caboose filmed for the outdoor portion of that segment is the 1912 Detroit & Mackinac caboose W52.  I was the engineer at the other end of the train for a couple segments of the filming.  It's pretty neat to see our equipment operating on National TV.

Seeing it also makes me proud to work there too. 

Jerry Poniatowski

Model T Driver

There are several other segments that were filmed on the Greenfield Village railroad and in the Henry Ford Museum railroad exhibits.

I remember when the caboose started being phased out.Around here the southern was the first to get rid of them.Seaboard system got rid of their caboose to.But at a slower rate the local still had a caboose for about another 2 maybe 3 years.From time to time I have seen a caboose on a few ns trains.But these are few and far in between.I don,t know about any one else.But It took me a while to get used to seeing freight train with out a caboose.

Every freight train that runs on my layout has a caboose on the end no matter what the era. 

Montour trail, west of Pittsburgh.  Finley Township, Allegheny County, PA municipal building. 

The tunnels, the bridges,  As families ride bikes, there has to be conversation about railroad. 

laz1957 posted:

Hi JIM,

  I watched the show Innovation Nation with MO ROCCA.  The thing that I noticed was where the word CABOOSE came from.  CAB HOUSE.  Then shortened to CABOOSE!!!!  Cool show.

I'm afraid their etymology is mistaken.  The word is a borrowing from Dutch, referring to a small structure on the deck of a ship, usually used for cooking.  It was one of many nautical terms adopted by and adapted for railroading.  The Dutch term is attested at least to the 17th century, possibly earlier.

The caboose is still  used on  on branch lines that have manual switches, Y's and where long backwards runs of trains are necessary.  They are also used when pulling large oversized loads or hazardous material.

https://youtu.be/TfIYRCLijPw

palallin posted:

laz1957 posted:

Hi JIM,

  I watched the show Innovation Nation with MO ROCCA.  The thing that I noticed was where the word CABOOSE came from.  CAB HOUSE.  Then shortened to CABOOSE!!!!  Cool show.

I'm afraid their etymology is mistaken.  The word is a borrowing from Dutch, referring to a small structure on the deck of a ship, usually used for cooking.  It was one of many nautical terms adopted by and adapted for railroading.  The Dutch term is attested at least to the 17th century, possibly earlier.

They could have taken a leap too far extrapolating from the Low German “kabhuse”, meaning a wooden cabin on ship’s deck. 

The Dutch word “kambuis” meant ship’s galley, which later became “caboose” in 1747, meaning ship’s cookhouse. 

Disclaimer: At least the above is how understood the quick research I did.

Chris Lonero posted:

Every freight train that runs on my layout has a caboose on the end no matter what the era. 

I could not agree more! But, at this point, I have stopped buying New Haven NE6 caboose models.

MELGAR

A site called The Word Detective agrees on the derivation from a part of a ship. But more importantly he shares our love of them.

Word Detective Caboose

SantaFe158 posted:

There are several other segments that were filmed on the Greenfield Village railroad and in the Henry Ford Museum railroad exhibits.

 

 

 

The Cragg Railcharger you see at 1:50 in the video was my Dad's company. My Dad and my Uncle started selling these units back in the Late 70s through the 80s.   The unit keeps the signal system batteries charged.    They sold the company but the name lives on.

Steve