What happened to the Caboose?

Just out of curiosity why are there no more cabooses on trains? Even into the mid-1980s trains had hacks on the back with 2 guys in them. Can someone tell me who the guys in the hack were, what their job was, and why these jobs and the caboose has been eliminated?

carajul wrote:Just out of curiosity why are there no more cabooses on trains? Even into the mid-1980s trains had hacks on the back with 2 guys in them. Can someone tell me who the guys in the hack were, what their job was, and why these jobs and the caboose has been eliminated?

The brakeman's job abolished, conductor moved up front and caboose replaced with a 40 lb electronic device hung on the knuckle monitored from the head end.

anti-hammie wrote:

carajul wrote:Just out of curiosity why are there no more cabooses on trains? Even into the mid-1980s trains had hacks on the back with 2 guys in them. Can someone tell me who the guys in the hack were, what their job was, and why these jobs and the caboose has been eliminated?

The brakeman's job abolished, conductor moved up front and caboose replaced with a 40 lb electronic device hung on the knuckle monitored from the head end.

And even that thing can't stay awake the entire trip...............

A few reasons.

The conductor and brakeman (if a brakie was assigned) now rode in the cab.
One less car to pull, and the wear and tear on it.
The FRED (flashing rear end device) that had a warning light, and some of them could monitor air pressure and other things from the rear end.
Mostly an efficiency move.

wolfboy8171981 wrote:

anti-hammie wrote:

carajul wrote:Just out of curiosity why are there no more cabooses on trains? Even into the mid-1980s trains had hacks on the back with 2 guys in them. Can someone tell me who the guys in the hack were, what their job was, and why these jobs and the caboose has been eliminated?

The brakeman's job abolished, conductor moved up front and caboose replaced with a 40 lb electronic device hung on the knuckle monitored from the head end.

And even that thing can't stay awake the entire trip...............

LOL

wolfboy8171981 wrote:

anti-hammie wrote:

carajul wrote:Just out of curiosity why are there no more cabooses on trains? Even into the mid-1980s trains had hacks on the back with 2 guys in them. Can someone tell me who the guys in the hack were, what their job was, and why these jobs and the caboose has been eliminated?

The brakeman's job abolished, conductor moved up front and caboose replaced with a 40 lb electronic device hung on the knuckle monitored from the head end.

And even that thing can't stay awake the entire trip...............

That about sums it all up hahaha.

This thread probably should be moved to the Rolling Stock forum, but anyway to add - cabooses became somewhat expensive by the late 1960s, because they carried humans, and so required safety and support measures such as safety glass for windows, cushion underframes, special trucks, grab-bars, electric stoves etc.
Even with the safety measures, there was the potential for personnel injury via slack-action (i.e. the caboose getting yanked as the slack gets pulled out of a train accelerating from a standstill - the worker can fall over and injure themselves, thus workman's comp claims etc.)

Expensive, non-revenue specialized stock has always looked upon quite unfavorably by the railroads. Couple that with the fact the railroad caboose fleet was getting old and worn out by the 1970s, and replacements (or rebuilding to new spects) cost serious money that railroads were in no real position to spend (although the Interational Car Company was turning out some really great looking cabooses towards the end in the 70s & 80s...alas, at relatively steep prices).
By the 1970s technology improved enough, and union agreements and work rules changed enough, that cabooses could be done away with (welcome the FRED, and conductors in the cab). By the 1980s, various local and state laws mandating crew size and caboose usage were mostly phased out, and so cabooses got relegated to the few duties they have now in freight railroading, such as shoving platforms or used in special moves (e.g. the nuclear flask train with a trailing caboose supposedly full of armed guards).

To sum up:
Cabooses, c 1980:
Specialized, Non-Revenue
Not really required for MOW service
Replacement cabooses are expensive
Changes in business patterns,technological advances, and laws mean cabooses are no-longer routinely required
Even with saftey equipment, personnel can still suffer injuries in them.

And that's why, once the ball got started rolling, cabooses disappeared from most railroads fairly quickly.

CNJ had to retire its 1902-1921 fleet of wooden cabooses due to changes in federal railroad safety laws in 1972. Mainly, this was the outlawing of friction journal bearings in those old arch bar trucks, as well as air brake upgrades (most of the wooden fleet still had K brakes by 1972). Rather than bring the wooden units up to snuff, CNJ scrapped or donated the cars away. The 911-- and 913-- series hacks were gone.

The new rules stated that friction journal and K-brake cars could no longer be used in interstate service. They could be used in local service, but CNJ figured to keep the 95--- series steel fleet active and get rid of the wooden fleet.

CNJ's first wooden unit 91155, rebuilt from 1874 NJ Southern boxcar 31943 in 1902 still exists and is in service, at Pine Creek RR at Allaire. http://www.njmt.org

Arch-bar trucks, yes. No prohibition on journal bearings until 1994, and that was only on interchange (revenue) equipment.

-Micah

56-57 wrote:Arch-bar trucks, yes. No prohibition on journal bearings until 1994, and that was only on interchange (revenue) equipment.

-Micah

Got it. Thanks.

Old CNJ hacks had all kinds of old trucks. Some were Andrews, but mostly arch bar. Not exactly smooth to ride on, but they did the job for a very long time.

I got a few rides in "flat top" (without a cupola) #91382 on the NY&LB during the 70s.