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OysterPoBoy
USA Fan
City of St. George
Member since Jul 2013
30733 posts
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Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?

As a kid looking for the caboose was one of my favorite car ride activities. I remember they told us some story about technology changing so they don’t need them anymore?

I’ll tell you what, I find myself sitting and waiting for a lot more trains than I used to when cabooses were employed. Was it just a cost cutting measure?


GreenRockTiger
USA Fan
vortex to the whirlpool of despair
Member since Jun 2020
25572 posts
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re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
Covid


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4520
beerJeep
LSU Fan
Louisiana
Member since Nov 2016
33062 posts
 Online 

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
quote:

Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?


It isn’t PC


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91
armsdealer
New Orleans Pelicans Fan
Member since Feb 2016
10461 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
Cost cutting measures. Railroads lobbied to have fewer crew members, congress took the money and made it so. It is how everything works. When you don't have as many crew you don't need crew quarters.


Tbonepatron
LSU Fan
Member since Aug 2013
8190 posts
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re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?


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930
GonzalesTiger2
LSU Fan
Gonzales, LA
Member since Dec 2013
90 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
More automation = less crew, so no need.

They don’t have coal cars any more either.

Edit:
My bad - They don’t have tenders any more.
This post was edited on 1/2 at 3:24 pm


RockinDood
Member since Aug 2020
845 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
The caboose was replaced with this; it’s called an “End of train device.”



Mid Iowa Tiger
Iowa State Fan
Undisclosed Secure Location
Member since Feb 2008
15376 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
quote:

technology changing so they don’t need them anymore


Technology and staffing requirements for trains. Now it only takes two in the engine and one is really a back up.


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02
Jack Daniel
US Space Force Fan
In the bottle
Member since Feb 2013
23636 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?


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Ghost of Colby
LSU Fan
Alberta, overlooking B.C.
Member since Jan 2009
8290 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
I still appreciate a good caboose on a lady.




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OK Roughneck
Oklahoma Fan
The Sooner State
Member since Aug 2021
3392 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
Most trains I see come through here have another Locomotive on the end.
This post was edited on 1/2 at 1:50 pm


Ghost of Colby
LSU Fan
Alberta, overlooking B.C.
Member since Jan 2009
8290 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
quote:

Most trains I see come through here have another Locomotive on the end.

Soy trains. Just like too many things in 2023. They like to go both ways.


WestSideTiger
LSU Fan
Baton Rouge
Member since Jan 2004
2904 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
So you’ve never had a train come to a stop and the only car blocking you was the caboose?



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51
weadjust
Member since Aug 2012
14053 posts
 Online 

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
quote:

They don’t have coal cars any more either.


Train loads of coal roll through my town daily


High C
USA Fan
viewing the fall....
Member since Nov 2012
49581 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
Wouldn’t it be cabeese?


upgrade
LSU Fan
Member since Jul 2011
11300 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
quote:

Wouldn’t it be cabeese?



Not sure. Could caboose be the plural of caboose? Such as moose?


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30
MAXtheTIGER
LSU Fan
Member since Dec 2006
770 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
No one wants to be the caboose when you’re running a train


OK Roughneck
Oklahoma Fan
The Sooner State
Member since Aug 2021
3392 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
quote:

Soy trains. Just like too many things in 2023. They like to go both ways.


I'll never look at a train the same way again.



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90
BRgetthenet
US Marine Corps Fan
Member since Oct 2011
116171 posts
 Online 

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
Militant whites began complaining about the harsh treatment and substandard level of service they had become used to in the decades prior which led to widespread civil unrest and demonstrations across the North and Mid West.

Many cited their frustrations with the available selection of bourbon and cigars. Mainly, however, the quality and preparation of appetizers by inexperienced sous chefs with little or no culinary training was coupled with the limited variety of entrées, which essentially was the straw that broke the camels back.

The customary soup and salad had, for many, begun to fall out of favor due to restrictions placed on the manner with which it was consumed i.e. being required to use forks, knives, and spoons, and the more widely ridiculed practice of being offered napkins. The social acceptance of consuming with one’s bare hands was rising in popularity and was largely attributed to the success and profitability of the newly created hot dog industry.

The result was unexpected, but welcomed after the quality of prepackaged gas station sandwiches were significantly improved with the addition of popular condiments such as mayonnaise. With the invention of saran wrap, which became widely available to low income families, most railways began serving all the sleeper cars and commuters.

This gave many the satisfaction of knowing they were suffering together without the viable alternative of ordering from menu à la cart. But more importantly, it began to antiquate the pestering thought in the back of everyone’s mind, that if you could afford better travel accommodations, they were available.


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521
tadman
Chicago Cubs Fan
Member since Jun 2020
2385 posts

re: Did we ever get a good explanation on why they got rid of cabooses?
quote:

Cost cutting measures. Railroads lobbied to have fewer crew members, congress took the money and made it so.


This is only about half accurate. It was not a situation of the filthy rich railroads trying to pocket more money and underhandedly spreading the wealth.

The largest bankruptcy before Enron was the Penn Central railroad. Concurrently in the 1970s, most trains required 5 men to operate. Also concurrently, there were perhaps 10-15 railroads in bankruptcy.

If you look at the regulatory climate for railroads at the time, it was awful. Five man crews were required. Rates were set by the government. Ability to add and drop service frequency or entire routes was also fed regulated. Meanwhile, the states knew the railroads couldn't exactly cut and run, so they set up very high tax rates. Ergo the bankruptcies. Penn Central. Erie Lackawanna. Milwaukee Road. Rock Island Lines. Delaware & Hudson. New Jersey Central. Lehigh Valley. Philadelphia & Reading. Boston & Maine. Quite a few others very close to it.

It took nationalization (as an operator of last resort) of the Penn Central and a few other lines, then egregiously large subsidies to run parallel routes and over-crewed trains before Bob Dole's wife and a few others realized the railroads should manage their own affairs in terms of crew size and rates.

Most trains run very safely with two men in front and a radio-controlled device at the back.


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