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A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting, keeping a lookout for load shifting, damage to equipment and cargo, and overheating axles.
CABOOSE meaning: 1. a small railway carriage, usually at the back of a train 2. a small railroad car, usually at the…. Learn more.
- Mysterious Origins
- Repurposed Cars
- Different Designs
- Home on The Road
- Undone by Technology
Cabooses probably date to the 1830s, but the precise details of their history are uncertain. According to one theory, Auburn and Syracuse Railroad Conductor “Uncle Nat” Williams set up an office in an empty boxcar at the end of a freight train. He used a wood box for a chair and a barrel for a desk where he completed his paperwork.
Railroads often repurposed old railcars into cabooses. At the Southeastern Railway Museum, Georgia Railroad Nos. 2866 and 2489 are two such examples. The railroad used old boxcars to create these cabooses. The railroad built No. 2489 during World War II when there was a steel shortage.
One common misconception is that all cabooses have cupolas. Chicago & North Western Conductor T. B. Watson is credited with creating the cupola caboose in 1863. Some, such as Georgia Railroad No. 2866, have bay windows instead, allowing conductors to watch trains from the side. Interestingly, this car carried passengers as part of mixed passenger a...
For workers on the railroad, the caboose was home. Initially, the rear brakeman, responsible for applying the handbrakes to the freight cars on the rear of the train, worked out of the caboose. While cabooses might seem like a fun place to work, they were lonely as crews were away from their families for extended stretches. They could also be dange...
Until the 1980s, freight trains were required to have cabooses. However, several changes signaled the end of the line for cabooses, or cabeese, as some might say. New labor agreements reduced train crews’ hours of service requirements, meaning cabooses were no longer needed for lodging, and computer record-keeping meant crews did not necessarily ne...
noun. ca· boose kə-ˈbüs. Synonyms of caboose. 1. : a ship's galley. 2. : a freight-train car attached usually to the rear mainly for the use of the train crew. 3. : one that follows or brings up the rear.
CABOOSE definition: 1. a small railway carriage, usually at the back of a train 2. a small railroad car, usually at the…. Learn more.
What does the noun caboose mean? There are seven meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun caboose . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
ca·boose. (kə-bo͞os′) n. 1. The last car on a freight train, often having kitchen and sleeping facilities for the train crew, and used as a vantage point for spotting problems on the train, such as smoking brakes or the separation of cars.
