I have a Union Pacific Rail Yard very close to my house. There is a caboose there. It's the totally graffiti'ed Southern Pacific #4669. I always see it in the yard. What do they use it for?
Matt
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I see them quite ofter here in the Anaheim, Yorba Linda area. They are always with a work train or with small diesels shunting in and out of the local businesses.
Steve
Matt,
The Union RailRoad here in Turtle Creek, Pa uses them a lot on their work trains when doing track repair and switching work, especially on the trestle over Brown Avenue when its really cold outside.
PCRR/Dave
There's a caboose in Bridgeville, PA right by the Ohio Central track that's been converted into a library. I've seen a few on the tracks in a switch yard for the Union Railroad in Duquense, PA.
This ex B&O caboose is being used here to protect a reverse move thru the town
of Westernport, Md. It and a few cars are being shoved by CSX 2629, the Geep that switches the big paper mill at Luke, Md., west of Westernport, the short train is returning from a paper mill warehouse east of Westernport.
It also protects reverse moves in and around the pedestrian areas at the mill.
Ed
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Originally Posted by Steve "Papa" Eastman:
I see them quite ofter here in the Anaheim, Yorba Linda area. They are always with a work train or with small diesels shunting in and out of the local businesses.
Steve
I have also seen them in Oxnard in between the Amtrak runs through the city.
There is a BNSF caboose on a siding in Broomfield CO. It is used as a shove platform on the several mile backing move to a large building materials company in Lafayette, where there is no run around available.
The UP uses old CNW bay window cabooses here as shoving platforms for local switching moves.
For the trainman to ride on the platforms on long shove moves, instead of hanging on the side of a boxcar for miles.
There are a couple on display in the Western America Railroad Museum up here in Barstow, California, on Route 66.
They are used solely to perpetuate the memory of the Caboose.
Bad Order Harold
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Obviously the one in the photo is being used collect graffiti.
Yep, I was gonna say 'canvas'
As someone else mentioned, as a platform for crew to ride on during a long reverse move. On CSX, north of the DC, there is a rock runner that has a long reverse move, but CSX assigns hoppers with platforms to the train.
