Railroad Cabooses' Elimination With True Story

[K487]

Here's a copy of a true story I posted on another model railroad site where a poster had asked why cabooses were eliminated.  I added the story to show one reason why – railroads' costs of injuries to the men in the cabooses.

This was on a 6 day per week train from Bismarck MO to Poplar Bluff MO (and return).

I was an extra board brakeman for the Missouri Pacific RR out of Bismarck MO in the late 1970s, and rode in cabooses about 140 times as rear end brakeman (and about the same amount as head end brakeman in the engine.)  Regarding the following incident I was in the caboose and wasn't seriously injured.

Once after about two days of heavy rain in the area and it was still raining, we were heading south doing about 45mph getting a run at Gads Hill* (in the Missouri Ozarks) with about three engines and 100 cars, we had a washout in the middle of the train - unbeknownst to us. Just before we in the caboose hit the dip (about 60' of rail and ties hanging/drooping down in the air) I heard the train brakes go into emergency, so I got up from my seat in the cupola to go check it out. Just when I stood up the front of the caboose dropped 1' then immediately jumped about 2' to 3' up and came back down. This did two things: 1) the front of the caboose rose off its kingpin (kept on by gravity only) and came back down on it but not through the hole in the car bolster, but on top of the pin. So the caboose was cocked in an "up" slope position (while we were still moving.) And 2) when that caboose dropped, the underside of the cupola roof banged me on the head (I'd just stood up as much as I could to climb down the ladder). It gave me a headache, but when the Trainmaster arrived later he asked me if I was okay, and I told him "Yes" (as I was okay by then - the headache had gone away).

[Regarding caboose crew injuries and costs, could this incident have caused more serious injuries (costing the RR big $$$$)? Yup.]

The conductor was okay through all this. Also, a loaded 50' open top hopper had hit the dip when it was less bad but it broke the back (center) of the hopper anyway - the hopper stayed on the rails but its center dump chute was dragging on the rails.  And as I remember it a couple of other cars derailed.

When the engineer called the dispatcher in North Little Rock and told him we had a wash out with a derailment at the foot of Gad's Hill, the dispatcher wouldn't believe him. I heard the conversation on the caboose radio, and it took three tries to finally convince the dispatcher we were telling the truth. We actually passed by a "high water" detector but it hadn't been activated (if so it would turn on a light on the dispatcher's panel). It turns out the detector was set to go off when the water reached to top of the rails, but the water had only reached about an inch or two above the rail base when the "lake" in an adjacent field pushed through the ballast. (It was later speculated that the rhythmic pounding of the train going over the soaked ballast area could have assisted in setting off the the wash-out, and the water culverts under the roadbed were not up to the current volume of water – also  they were probably plugged up at least a little bit.)

I remember a quick thought that scared me some after the caboose jumped up and came back down in a cocked position - and we were still rolling: I hoped the caboose body wouldn't slide off the lead truck, bust loose from all the brake rigging,  then roll over down into the "lake" (with a high probability of drowning for yours truly.)

*  Regarding Gads Hill:  As info, at 3pm on January 11, 1874, the first train robbery in Missouri occurred.  Jesse James' gang and the Younger gang got on the train when it stopped at the station at the top of Gads Hill and robbed the passengers.  I'm glad to have missed that occasion by about 140 years.

K487

[jbrock27]

Scary stuff!

[K487]

"Scary stuff!"   Yes!

[RAM]

why cabooses were eliminated.  The cost.  Cost money to buy.  Cost money for upkeep.  Cost money to service them.  Cost money to put them on and take them off of trains.  Cost money for a rear breakmen.  Cost money to pull them. I am sure there are other costs.

[jward]

an additional factor would have been the age of the caboose fleet. most lines were still running cabooses built in the steam era when they were eliminated in the mid 1980s. they were old and worn out, and in need of replacement.

eliminating the caboose also incurred some substantial costs. the eot that replaced them had to be bought. many of the early generation eots were damaged by in "accidents" because they fouled the coupler. drews coupling up to the rear of the train, such as yard crews or helper engines would sometimes forget to remove the eot before making the coupling, thus destroying it. another substantial cost on conrail in the early days was positioning of crewmen. the brakeman on the train had to drop off and couple the helper locomotives to the rear of the train. when they cut the helpers away, this crew member had to get back to the head end of the train. in my area, they did this by running the helper up the other main to the head end of the train. this could and did incur serious delays to not only the train being helped, but all other trains in the area as both tracks would be blocked until this move was completed.

for historical record, the massive cost of replacement of worn out equipment also figured in the demise of the steam locomotive, and the end of the use of electric locomotives on at least two railroads.

[Desertdweller]

I worked for the Milwaukee Road and the Rock Island while they still used a lot of cabooses.  It is my observation that they were removed primarily because of the number of injuries they caused.  The worst cause was when slack action ran out and the caboose suddenly when from a standstill to several miles per hour.  I've heard stories about crewmen being thrown right out the back door and onto the track!

If you look inside a caboose, you find both vertical and horizontal pipes in the interior.  These pipes do not carry air or water.  Their purpose is to provide a sturdy hand-hold.

The first thing I learned about cabooses is to grab onto something and hold on tight if you hear the slack running out!

I miss seeing them, but understanding how dangerous they can be helps accept their absence.

At the time I worked on those railroads, local trains with usually the same conductor had the caboose assigned to that individual.  They were outfitted like RV's to the personal taste of the conductor.  Woe to anyone responsible for rough handling a caboose and messing it up inside!

Les

[K487]

RAM:  I agree about the costs.

Jeffrey:  As usual, good observations.  I have a couple of observations:  (A) I didn't know about using an engine on an adjacent track to carry a brakeman from of the train to the other end (I grew up on a single-track railroad), but even when fouling a second line it made sense.  (B)  My understanding of the introductory use of Rear End Devices - REDs - (often referred to by railroad operating employees as FREDs (F-------- Rear End Devices) was, um, disliked because of the perception that they caused lost jobs.  And as a result many of the devices were accidentally destroyed during operations.

Desertdweller:  I certainly agree with you.  Regarding the train's slack running out when the train started moving, it was always a guess if the caboose was going to go from zero to 1 or 2 mph or from zero to 6 to 10 mph in a nano second.  Always had to be prepared for the worst (and if my memory is correct, Rule 107 of the ((older)) Railroad Operating Code said, "When in doubt the safe course must always be taken.")

K487 

[Piyer]

First off, on a side note, the F in FRED technically stands for FLASHING - though other words were / are probably appropriate at times.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned in the demise of the caboose was the changes in railroad technology. The shift from friction bearings to roller bearings greatly reduced the number of hotboxes. Better load restraints and car designs greatly reduced the number of shifted loads. Lineside scanners and detectors, and the telemetry sent to the cab from the FREDs, all replicated jobs previously done by crew members back in the caboose. That led to crew downsizing and caboose elimination on certain runs.

The last all-new cabooses built were in the early 1980s. That I know of, Chessie System, UP/MP, Santa Fe, and BN were buying them right up until the eve of the caboose elimination agreements.

In the US, the caboose has never completely died. Usually called a transfer caboose or shoving platform, you'll usually find them on runs where a locomotive has to shove cars for very long distances - as I recall, anything in excess of one mile - as it becomes a safety hazard to have a brakeman hanging off a ladder for such a long distance, and especially when the train has numerous grade crossings to go over. Too many drivers think they can beat the train! 

~AJK

[K487]

Piyer:

Thanks for the clarifications and additional info.

K487

[rogertra]

"Flashing" may have been the 'correct' technical term but the other 'F" word was more commonly used.

Hence the name change to EOT (End Of Train device).

Cheers

Roger.

[K487]

And thank you Roger for the additional clarification.

K487