What It's Like Inside a Caboose

Inside an old caboose in Crawford, Nebraska. Unused footage from 2017
My T-Shirts - shop.spreadshirt.com/mobilein...
More videos on My Main Channel - / mobileinstinct
Extra Footage on Patreon - / mobileinstinct
INSTAGRAM - / mobileinstinct
New FACEBOOK page - Lets be friends - / mobileinstinct
All of my videos are organized by state on my website www.TheMobileInstinct.com
*CHECK OUT some other videos of mine! *
1930's Baseball Stadium Abandoned in the Woods
• 1930's Baseball Stadiu...
Abandoned LA ZOO
• Abandoned Zoo - Compar...
Border wall at an Abandoned Beach
• The border wall at the...
#mobileinstinct #trains #caboose

[@slippyscout1]

I live in a caboose converted into a tiny home in Louisville Kentucky, this video is a great insight into the former life of my humble abode! Thank you

[@seanmaxwell3319]

Wow! That is very neat. Way better than living in a converted shipping containers!

[@jasonjmarchi]

Hey Chris, slack action is the amount of free movement of one car before it transmits its motion to an adjoining car. The coupling between cars is loose, so that trains can go around sharp curves. When a train is started and stopped that motion change happens one car at a time.

[@ewittkofs]

Chris, the slack action description is correct, but the force of this action by the time that it reached the caboose could throw the crew sitting in the copula very hard potentially breaking their neck or smashing their face into the window. I heard an old brakeman tell the story that this was their big fear while ridding in a caboose.

[@scottwithrow3793]

Slack action increases as it reaches the end of the train as well... like the crack at the end of a whip.

[@karebear7669]

Interesting 🧐

[@royreynolds108]

There is or was about one foot of slack between two cars so if all the slack was taken up (or all of the cars run together); when the locomotive started moving it caught each car in turn so the locomotive could move about the number of feet as the number of train cars before the caboose started moving.

[@brycehale3576]

Think of a freight train as a 10,000 ton, mile long slinky on wheels.

[@yetidynamics]

Train Torpedos are small explosives (sounding devices) that you place on a track that detonate when a train runs over them,. something you would place on the track to warn of danger ahead, such as a stalled train. basically large versions of those snaps you can buy and throw at people's feet or use as pranks.

[@SubdolphinX]

And fusees are the old time name for what we call road flares now.

[@royreynolds108]

@@SubdolphinX Fusees and road flares are the same thing burning. Fusees have a nail or spike in the end for sticking into a tie or the ground.

[@onprogramming5468]

Whatever.

[@chrisscully1817]

My father was a brakeman for B&O railroad. He rode on the Caboose. As a young child, my father would take me to the rail take the Rail yard and show me the Caboose and the Engine. What great memories of this you let me relive. Thank you

[@GodsFavoriteBassPlyr]

Cool! My father worked for (and retired with) Southern Pacific Railroad. And a few times, every so often on a Saturday, he would take my brother and I down to Taylor Yard in Los Angeles (in the late '60's, before L.A. was turned into some kind of futuristic, denuded remnant of an inter-galactic battlefield) and let us climb all around.. his work buddies would give us the tours, explain how and why things worked. I think it's all a housing project now, but so much fun back then. Rest in Peace, Pop!

[@hazevthewolf178]

I'm a bit of a railfan, someone who likes to watch trains. By the time that I got into the hobby, cabeese were already an endangered species having been replaced by fancy radio beacons and tail lights called "rear end devices". We fans with scanning radios could tune into the rear end device's frequency to hear the trains coming before one could see or hear the train. Thanks for a glimpse into the past.

[@mikeriddle383]

I spent many, many days up in the crowd nest waiting on track and time to travel down the track to get to go to work. Back in the 70's. Started working with Santa Fe R.R. which merged with Burlinton Northern to become BNSF. Worked for them for 41 years.

[@mikeriddle383]

Crows Nest.

[@onprogramming5468]

Liar

[@user-de1hg8cf6b]

Working as a conductor on a caboose would have been my dream job. Thanks for posting it

[@Amenhir1]

When I was a kid we used to watch the trains go by near my house. One day when they were stopped one of the guys working on the train asked if we wanted to check out the caboose. From what I can remember it was pretty much identical inside to this one, except instead of the two chairs in the upper section, it was two small mattresses.

[@charlesdudek7713]

Amenhir. Similar happened to me and a friend when I was a kid. We were looking over a stopped train and the Engineer started talking to us and ended up inviting us into the engine . He showed us the controls and what they did. We were about 9 or 10 at the time. It made our day. That was about 1965.

[@billmorris2613]

@@charlesdudek7713 I’m a retired Engineer and use to invite mostly young kids but sometimes their parents too into the cab of our engine. There was a crossing near the south end of one of our sidings where we would stop while waiting on a north bound train. There was a house near the tracks that had a family that had several young girls between 12 and 17 years old. We let them come up into the cab. On one trip we had run out of coffee and the older girl went and made us a whole pot of coffee. We filled our coffee bottles and she had brought some paper cups, cream, and sugar, so we could finish the pot off. We gave her a few bucks. They would do the same for other crews too. Their father was working on an expansion in one of the chemical plants and they moved away after about a year.

[@charlesdudek7713]

@@billmorris2613 Sounds like good memories.

[@billmorris2613]

@@charlesdudek7713 Oh yes!!! I have very many good memories with both of my main career fields. I was also in aviation both as a commercial pilot and mechanic for a little over 4 years, when I was in the Regular US Air Force, before going to work on the railroad. I’m retired from both but still do Aviation and Railroad consulting work. Unfortunately there are some bad memories to, but the good ones out weighed the bad. The day the girls brought us the coffee was the return trip to our home terminal in New Orleans. The day before I was assigned a new Engineer Trainee. He was 19 years old and he started dating the 17 years old girl. I don’t know the out come of their dating because he only stayed with me for three months. Then he was assigned to another Instructor Engineer, but they were still dating as of our last trip together. He was from the Baton Rouge area, which was not to far from where she lived.

[@royreynolds108]

Originally the caboose was a rolling office for the conductor to do the paperwork to keep up with the cars in the train, a place to eat on the road, and a place to sleep if caught out on the road as well as a place to watch for shifting loads or other problems like hot boxes(smoking or burning journal bearings on the trucks) that ran out of oil.

[@IntrepidMilo]

I remember when the caboose was at the end of the train. The engines at the front and the caboose at the end, that just how it was. Trains nowadays look incomplete without the caboose.

[@cccccc5398]

Yes, I too remember the caboose at the end of every train. Use to sit ans watch trains just so I could see the caboose. You are so right, I can not get use to a train without the caboose. They are no longer trains to me.

[@carltongadgettmannprice352]

I agree.

[@jimmyseaver3647]

Trains have gotten too long for it, unfortunately. Nobody wants to walk two miles in freezing weather, and I doubt it'd be practical to stick a four-wheeler aboard, either. Personally, when it comes to having crews stay with the trains at all times, the Australians might have been on to something. Their transcontinental intermodals and the like have a crew car just behind the locomotives, so you're only exposed to the blazing sun of the outback for a minute or two. Probably cheaper than having a crew van come out and drive them to a hotel.

[@onprogramming5468]

@@cccccc5398 used*

[@davidschaadt3460]

Any model railroader always has Cabooses.

[@steviewonder6952]

Hi there Chris. Slack action occurs when the train brakes, all the gaps in the carriages squeeze together rather like a spring being compressed, so when the train finally stops the whole thing is squeezed together tight front to caboose. When the engine starts to pull at the front again later, the gap in the first carriage will open and then get pulled, and it can cause a jerking pull forward motion, in the second carriage, that gets worse the further it travels down the train, so by the time the sprung pulling motion gets to the caboose at the end, you won't know the train has moved until the hard jerking forward motion has tightened the whole train, if your not ready for it, this forward jerking could throw you off your feet in to a wall or on to the floor causing serious injury.

[@jamesharrington8502]

Slack Action: In railroading, slack action is the amount of free movement of one car before it transmits its motion to an adjoining coupled car. This free movement results from the fact that in railroad practice cars are loosely coupled, and the coupling is often combined with a shock-absorbing device, a "draft gear", which, under stress, substantially increases the free movement as the train is started or stopped. Loose coupling is necessary to enable the train to bend around curves and is an aid in starting heavy trains, since the application of the locomotive power to the train operates on each car in the train successively, and the power is thus utilized to start only one car at a time.

[@chrisniner8772]

Torpedoes are small explosives that are attached to the rail with a lead strap. When an engine runs over it there is a loud bang alerting the train crew of danger up ahead. A fuzee is a stick of sulfur that burns making a red light. They have a nail sticking out of one end to jab it into a railroad tie.

[@walterfink9782]

Some railroads still use the caboose. Mainly for MOW(maintenance of way) and yard switching or switching for businesses close by. Very cool.

[@Bentcypress]

My uncle was a conductor on the railroad. When I was a kid I got to go to work with him and ride in both the caboose and the steam engine many times. It was a blast to go to work with him. He worked for a small line and not a major RR. Probably couldn't have done that with a major line.

[@ed6850]

I love your channel. I learn so much on your amazing adventures.

[@JChrisTurner1234]

Ever since I was a kid watching a train go rambling by, I have always been intrigued about what it was like inside the caboose. I so enjoyed this tour/video very much. Thanks again for all the pleasure you bring me and your other fans. I wish I had that navy blue cubs cap you have worn all over the world...I know it is priceless.

[@Quadrophiniac]

Man, your videos are great. Your channels are hidden gems in my opinion. stay awesome!

[@MikeBMW]

Nice, Chris! I can remember, as a kid, when stopped at a RR crossing, we would always wait for the caboose and wave and holler! Yeah, I know, OK, boomer. :)

[@ShelKim1991]

First time being first!! ❤ I miss trains having a caboose at the end. As kids, we were excited to finally see the caboose. 😊

[@mynameistaken99]

I love stuff like this. I can't wait to travel again.

[@sjpavur]

Fascinating video! Thanks for sharing it!!

[@MarksKicksOnRoute66]

Always a fun journey with you! As I've said before your so genuinely nice.

[@casstelles]

The box with torpedoes/fusees stored signaling devices for the railroads. A torpedo was an explosive device placed on the rail to make a bang noise when ran over. This would signal a following train to stop before the caboose. These fell out of favor with modern radios, and torpedos were somewhat dangerous due to their explosive nature. As for a fusee, this was just another name for a signalling flare in which these are still used in present day usually for low light (dawn/dusk) and night situations. Also, one thing that I forgot to mention about torpedos. Do not handle them in present day. They become unstable with age, and they could explode if handled. This is one of the reasons that railroads got rid of them. As far as the beds and living in the caboose, this was usually done off duty and not while the train was in operation (moving) with the train parked in a rail yard or an end point of movement. This practice fell out favor for train crews residing in dorms or hotels/motels in the modern day. I would say the practice of living in a caboose started to decline by the 1970's. I hope this filled in some of the question that you had in this video.

[@daffyduk77]

known as detonators in the UK & elsewhere, I think still provided for use in UK for last-ditch alert to following train or whatever.

[@MrJeep75]

I found one of those torpedoes on that track when I was a kid In the 80s glad I didn't get my hand blown off

[@johanna7254]

I love it! We have a caboose on display at our county fairgounds and I always enjoy taking a look inside when I'm there.

[@SueGirling68]

Hi Chris, a very cool look inside, I have never seen inside a caboose either. Thanks for sharing. x

[@karebear7669]

I like that I always learn something when I watch this channel! I know nothing of motors or power mechanisms and probably would have never sought out that knowledge, but now I know a little 😉

[@LordOfThePogs]

Very cool! I didn't know any of that about a caboose. I always thought it was just like a tail end of the train. One of those things you never really think about too much I guess. Thanks!

[@MobileInstinct2]

Same for me!

[@thomassliders4770]

So good to you out and about. Enjoy!

[@msm9828]

I went to Guatemala with a couple that owned a caboose. It was pretty interesting to hear them talk about it!

[@jamesrobinson2175]

Thank you very much Chris!!! You're wonderful I think!

[@Dreway]

3:50 “for whatever” 100% good enough for me 😂

[@jamesknott9720]

I used to work for CN and back in the mid 70s, I frequently rode on freights, including the caboose or van as the crews called them. What you call a bed really wouldn't qualify as one and I speak from experience. On one occasion, I was travelling overnight from Foleyet to Capreol Ontario and tried sleeping on it. I was frequently tossed off by the motion. IIRC, that "bed" was more of a bench. A torpedo is an explosive device, which detonates when a train wheel rolls over it. It's purpose is to warn train crews that they're heading into a section of track where they're not supposed to go. I don't know about years ago, but when I was with CN a crew would not spend days in there. There are laws that limit how long a crew can be on duty. They'd stay in a bunk house or a YMCA, when away from home.

[@dfk4500]

WOW brother!!!! That was amazing!!!!! WOW!!!

[@tonipepper5143]

SLACK ACTION is when the weight of the train runs on & out. A good engineer should know his territory at least 2 miles ahead & behind in order to control the slack. Controlling the slack is either by throttle or airbrakes. I was a Locomotive Engineer for BNSF Railway for 27 years.

[@LegendLength]

how would you control it, by throttle i guess?

[@tonipepper5143]

Depends, on territory. You can try & keep it stretched & use airbrakes or throttle manipulation.

[@rumrunner1756]

Hello Chris. I never knew before this that I wanted to see the inside of a caboose. 😁☮️👍

[@michaelwhite5151]

That was delightful, Chris. It's difficult to come across a caboose in such original condition. I always waved at the folks in the caboose as it went by, and they usually waved back! :-)

[@chrislawn6158]

Hi Chris In the UK Australia and India they are known as guards or brake vans as they could apply braking over certain track sections to avoid couplings between wagons snapping. I like the term caboose better though!

[@fluggaenkoecchicebolsen]

Great video thanks

[@georgebenson6036]

If there had been a manned caboose on the NS train that wrecked at East Palestine, the wreck might have been prevented. A conductor watching the train from those two seats that you pointed out would have seen the problem before it resulted in a wreck and gotten the train stopped by dumping the air.

[@MJARTBYDAY]

Slack action is what happens to the cars of a train when it changes speed suddenly. ... Both these actions place a strain on the couplings between the cars, and, especially with a long heavy train, if not controlled, can cause the train to break apart. Great video huni

[@michaelmaston4702]

Main cause of coupler knuckle breakage is caused by taking up the slack too quickly. The torpedoes are signaling devices designed to notify an approaching train of trouble further up the line. Think " road flares".

[@chrosquites]

FNBS! RIP Stobie One Kenobi

[@KuntalGhosh]

They could have easily fit an air conditioner in it and probably 4 or 6 solar panels on the roofs it should provide almost a kw and give them enough topup to run the ac for few hrs on battery + solar and then the genartor will takeover when it moves. The could also fit a small 2 or 3kw genartor in the undercarriage. There is enough room for it.

[@Pen-sq7bj]

in railroading, slack action is the amount of free movement of one car before it transmits its motion to an adjoining coupled car.

[@brain8484]

A caboose was used to put some braking on the train to keep the couplings from bunching up ( slack action ) .

[@billmorris2613]

Between each set of cars there can be up to 3 feet of slack. Slack is when the drawbar and coupler could move a foot or two before the car would start to move. Most of them have springs in them to help prevent ruff handling. Slack action refers to the engineer taking the slack out or in, in such a manner that it will jerk the caboose when starting. Or it would run in hard against the car in front of it. If a crew member was standing the rough slack action could knock them down. If they were sitting it could spill there coffee or root beer on them. The goal for the engineer is to take the slack out so gently that the crew don’t feel it when the caboose starts to move. Or gather it in so gently that the crew does not feel it. Hard slack action can damage or shift cargo or even derail a train. My worst derailment happened because of severe slack action when the train went into emergency. An air hose between the 4th and 5th car behind the engines busted. Once the emergency started we had no control over anything except the amount of brake pressure on the engines. The first 90 something cars behind the engine were mostly empty, with 35 cars of grain behind them. An emergency brake application travels at 800 feet per second from the point it was initiated. So it took about 7 to 8 seconds for the loaded grain cars to start braking. In the mean time the brakes were setting on the head end and the empty cars began to slow down. Plus we had started climbing a slight grad to a bridge over a river. When the loaded grain cars, which was still on flat ground, hit the mostly empty cars they shoved all the slack in and slammed into the engines. The cars started derailing at the 55th car behind the engine and stopped at the 77th car behind the engine, derailing 23 cars. Luckily there was no spillage of any dangerous cargo. About 3 or 4 hours later we left with 54 cars.

[@Clownboy15]

Very cool. Living in something like that would be akin to living in a mansion when I lived on the Ringling Bros. Circus train!

[@brystutzman3876]

In railroading, slack action is the amount of free movement of one car before it transmits its motion to an adjoining coupled car.

[@alanmorris7669]

My grandfather was a train driver all of his life. My grandmother received pensions long after his death.

[@woodrowwilliams1812]

I recall signs in the passenger trains that said Do not flush while in station.

[@daffyduk77]

Super video, thanks! Something about cabooses, an almost romantic mystique about them (when you've never suffered the hard ridin' I guess). You imagine the brakeman frying up his beans on the stove while the thing trundles along. UK guards' vans just don't have it

[@heronimousbrapson863]

A fusee is a kind of flare, used for providing light.

[@creatureconnor]

Your videos are so relaxing! I see you've been traveling a lot lately. Seems like you're in a new state everyday. Earlier this year, I went hiking 12 miles on the great Allegheny passage of the Potomac rail trail in Pennsylvania and there was a caboose just like that except the outside was blue. I wonder why they're always painted mint green on the inside.

[@MobileInstinct2]

These are all old footage that I never uploaded before. I'm lookinf forward to getting out on the road again once this is all over.

[@jimsmith9819]

probably because the paint was cheap

[@digby_dooright]

@@MobileInstinct2 I dunno. this looks haunted like a ghost lives in it. 😬

[@Caderic]

When I was in my early 20s maybe even 18 or 19, a "friend" told me, "When you see the red light (referring to the rear end device) you know it's the end of the train." I was like, "So the fact that there are no more cars doesn't tell you that?"

[@25mfd]

LOL... actually the red light is to warn any trains behind it

[@brendaramsbottom8693]

A lady that my mom worked with her husband worked for the railway and they had a caboose as a cabin at the lake. It went on a piece of track and they had redone the inside of it.

[@billmorris2613]

The handle on that toilet is a pump to flush the toilet into a holding tank like a camper. Flushing to the ground was done away with several decades ago.

[@sd90mac8]

Nice, I didn't even know that this caboose was there, where I live just 70 south of Crawford, great VIDEO, I'm gonna have to go down there n visit this spring/summer, during rodeo.! 🤠👌👍

[@4everdc302]

The amount of slack action can communicate discrepancies from loco to caboose. As caboose crew flys from one end to the other lol🚂🚃🇨🇦🙋

[@richardherbst8081]

If you ever make it back to Nebraska I would like to take you to the sandhills to go arrowhead hunting in small creeks and show you an old sod house. Lots to see and do!

[@billmorris2613]

A fusee is a flare that burns a red glow. It can be used in conjunction with the torpedos to stop a following train. That procedure is used very little in modern railroading. They are basically a huge match. A tube of sulfur with a striking cap to light the fusee similar to striking a match on the side of the box. You can buy them in auto parts stores to use in an emergency situation on the highway. You have probably seen them used on the highway at the scene of an accident. Most are red and will burn for 10 to 15 minutes. If a train hits a torpedo and has the stopping distance it MUST stop before crossing over a fusee between the rails, or go by one burning next to one of the rails that your train is on. Once it burns out, if there are not any track side light signals involved or a flagman, the stopped train can proceed prepared to stop in 1/2 the range of vision, not exceeding 20 MPH. Once it travels 2 miles from the location of the burning fusee it can resume normal speed if otherwise not restricted. If there was not enough stopping distance and the train goes by a burning fusee between or next to the rails your train is on it MUST wait ten minutes after it stops before proceeding as in the above paragraph.

[@LegendaryRadioJock]

Nope, nope, nope....Flares are mainly used to flag a grade crossing where the signals are malfunctioning, not as emergency stop markers for trains. The torpedo was used for that purpose before trains changed to diesel locos.

[@billmorris2613]

@@LegendaryRadioJock I have over 49 years in railroad operations. Most of those years as an engineer on a major Class 1 Railroad. The rest as COO (Chief Operations Officer). As part of my responsibility I oversee the rules classes and the final authority over interpretation of the operating rules in the GCOR which is our rule book. How much real railroad experience do you have? We very seldom use flares to flag a malfunctioning crossing. After stopping a trainman walks into the middle of the crossing usually with a flag or their lantern. Torpedos are used in conjunction with the flares. A burning flare after a properly placed torpedo marks the spot a train must stop before it reaches the flare. They are still in use long after the steam engines were retired. In fact a flare is used to start the fire in our Steam Locomotive. They still carry flares and torpedos on the engines. And their use is still spelled out in the GCOR, (rule book). In railroad and highway use they are used during cases of emergency.

[@LegendaryRadioJock]

@@billmorris2613 I don't care how many years you have, and anyone who defaults to years of experience loses the conversation.

[@billmorris2613]

@@LegendaryRadioJock I guess you think you can make all the rules, but you can’t. A typical railfan, which is why most major railroad do not hire rail fans. Your statement is contrary to the GCOR, which is the rule book most railroads use to operate by. When some one makes statements that I know are incorrect I inform the YT community of it. When I ask how much experience in RR operations they have and they refuse to divulge their experiences, that means they are probably a railfan with no real RR operating experience. I give my years of experience to qualify my answer to the question. Which was originally what is a Fussee. My statements are correct via the GCOR. Yours is incorrect.

[@johnrobison4635]

Torpedos are used if there is a breakdown obstructing the tracks they would be placed on the tracks, far enough away, to warn any oncoming train to slow down and stop. When hit they would have a bright flash and loud boom as a warning.

[@johnl1685]

It's really neat. I could live in one for life..

[@mikebritton8798]

Dude I am so horrified. I live in Crawford and wish I'd known you were here. I could have shown you so much history that you wont get at the touristy places. Oh well maybe later. That is a newer paint job on that caboose. Originally it had the green Burlington Northern paint. I used to hitch rides as a teenager (that dates me) to other towns and catch another back to Crawford. Good memories. Hope you enjoyed your time here and maybe youll find your way back sometime.

[@ChickasawBrave]

i got to ride one of these years ago sat in the very top and look out the window it was cool

[@supergirl1892]

Old Steam Trains, Caboose, hold a sort of unexplainable magic to many 20th century kids...

[@dixieboy5689]

I love all caboose stuff. as a child in Milwaukee we would go and play in train yards near the house. The Cabooses were not locked back then. True story!! There was always a couple cigarettes and a Playboy magazine to entertain us. And torpedos and fuzees kept us occupied , as well. Good old days . Fun Safe. I learned alot.

[@paulromsky9527]

I knew they had seats in the cupola, I would have thought they would be on slides so you can move them closer to the window to get a wider view of the train. I also thought they would have height and back adjustments and swivel with locks (like any common ergonomic desk chair). But these are mildly padded fixed metal chairs bolted to the floor. Those chairs are supposed to be there to monitor the train (an important task in the day), here they look like they are more for taking in the scenery (like a passenger would) - which I know that is not why they are there. I doubt the toilet dumped sewage onto the tracks, I am sure it went into a "blue sanitzer" tub (like a port-a-potty) that was drained and refilled after every haul (about once a week).

[@musiccitymanpresents]

The EPA did not require railroads to stop dumping toilets waste from trains onto the tracks until Nov. 15, 1996.

[@musiccitymanpresents]

Each Rail Road had their cabooses built, or built them themselves based on the individual railroads needs. They were NOT all identical inside base on need.

[@paulromsky9527]

@@musiccitymanpresents Wow, I never saw turds along the tracks when I was a kid. One would think they would care more for their own property or track workers. Thanks!

[@paulromsky9527]

@@musiccitymanpresents Thanks, one would think there would be some standardization, but being unique makes sense too.

[@user-lq4mo8dw1p]

They lived in there for 11 hours and 59 minutes....my dad was in the caboose most jobs from 1974 to 1992...i had a caboose sometimes up to 1997....

[@sandyca1106]

I thought the same, 'tiny house'. Like you said, 'very cool' green lol

[@jenb7756]

In the Eastern part of the state they've converted several into cabins that you can rent for the weekend!

[@gavingaming854]

Loving the new fall guys content ever senic it came out free to play I’ve been playing 5 hours a day

[@dansterland1824]

Basically it's a break van were guard spends his time looking out for train breaking apart or some thing bad happening he had brake valve as well just in case

[@kevanhubbard9673]

Torpedoes are probably detonators to clip to the track to protect the train if it broken down.If another train comes and they are unable to inform the signalman theirs has broken down they'll walk up the track placing detonators and hopefully the driver on an approaching train will hear them and stop.

[@billmorris2613]

Torpedoes are small packs of an explosive that can be strapped to the top of rail to flag / stop a following train. When a train’s wheel hits the torpedo it explodes with a loud bang similar to a cherry bomb. The engineer should start braking to stop as soon as possible. Depending on conditions placing the train in emergency may be necessary.

[@25mfd]

@ 3:27... as far as "living" in the caboose goes... you'd have to the 60s and on back to find guys that actually slept in the caboose... SOME yards did have bunkhouses for the crews... but the era that this caboose was built in no one slept in the caboose... the more modern era saw crews being transported to motels when off duty at their away from home terminals

[@paulromsky9527]

I though that one of the various functions of a caboose was for dual crews (one on duty and one off duty resting in the caboose) in 12 hour shifts. I thought a freight train would have a max shift crew of 4 (wood/coal burner): engineer, fire man, brake man (the one that sits in the cupola), and conductor (that also works in the caboose), or a min shift crew of (on a diesel): engineer, brake man (monitor), and conductor. So I was expected at least 4 beds in a caboose (two sets of bunk beds), and a lot more comfy than the one shown. I imagined: At shift change, the train would stop, the fresh crew would step off the caboose, then the train would slowly back up (counter walking speed of about 3 MPH) as the fresh crew walked toward the head of the train (inspecting the wheels as they go), then man the locomotives, and pull the train slowly forward (again counter walking speed) as the tired crew walks towards the caboose, double checking the wheels as they go. Can anybody confirm if I am correct? A one miie train could change crews and inspect the train twice in 20 minutes total.

[@musiccitymanpresents]

In 1907 the US Federal government enacted the "Hours of Service Laws" which dictated how long a train and engine crew could work, it was 16 hours straight. Now a days it is 12 hours maximum. Prior to that, the railroads could make an employee work as long as they wanted them to work. Steam locomotives where not as powerful as modern diesel electric locomotives so they tended to run shorter trains than we do today. Based on these two facts I don't think there would be any advantage to a railroad company to operate there trains as you have described. Why would they pay 8 people to do the work that 4 people could do during that crews work schedule.

[@debbietaylor8091]

I see that you were holding a book is there any book or books that you use to find all of these amazing things to see state to state? I try to write down everything you see So eventually I can see them.. but maybe a book would help

[@lurking0death]

There is a small gap between the couplings of each railroad car. So there is slack which gets taken up upon start and stop. If you have "slack action" while on a straight away, in particular, it may be a sign of something wrong...a speed up or a slow down. Cabooses held "brakemen" who tended the railroad cars especially around the turn of the 20th century when trains were powered by steam and railroad cars required much maintenance by onboard "brakemen".

[@kamala2111]

That was cool

[@billbaber6653]

My dad rode in one for 30 years NS conductor Atl to Chattanooga

[@taslimchoudhary1253]

Thanks Chris 🏵️🏵️🇮🇳🏵️🏵️

[@thierrydarker3714]

Today I've learnt something, I went to wikipedia see what the purpose of this car. Thx !

[@billmorris2613]

Good afternoon from SE Louisiana 3 Jul 21.

[@Canadian587]

They had technology back then to charge batteries while on the go? You’ll never see that on a Tesla.

[@billmorris2613]

By the 70s the toilets had holding tanks like a camper. That caboose could make a nice camp when fixed up.

[@crapman1290]

i recently went inside 4 of these, including an old 100 year old wooden L&N one. private owners display.

[@theone2be33]

Slack action probably means cars banging back in forth against each other when slowing down

[@25mfd]

the FEC, back in 1969, was the road that got the ball rolling on the downward spiral of the caboose... from there it wasn't until the UTU 1982 national agreement that the unions acknowledged the cabooses end (no pun intended)

[@williamroden8495]

The hallways in the elementary school I went to had that fugly green color on all the walls, as a kid I already knew I would not have that color on my property. I'm 56 now and it is still fugly. Chris, I know this is from your "warehouse," but wherever you are, I hope you are having a great day and staying safe.

[@jimrossi7708]

William Roden , I’m 59 and remember walking the RR tracks on Sunday morning with pops, they where only a block from my house, my biggest kick was to get a wave 👋 or/and the horn from the engineer, it brings back such wonderful memories as I lost my pop in 1975 ! Baseball, trains and ships ! Oh the good old days !!

[@paulromsky9527]

@William Roden. That green paint color is called Zinc Chromate. I am told it is the color of paint before pigments are added (even to make it white). It is supposed to be lower cost and corrosion resistant. We used it all the time in the US Air Force, but sometimes is has a yellowish color. It was used extensively in our bombers landing gear bays. In fact, my great grandmother's home interior was painted Zinc Chromate, I thought it was a terrible injustice, as it had real slat and plaster walls with a stucco texture. I found a gallon of it in the basement. A plain looking paint can with big bold letters "ZINC CHROMATE"... Years later I was amused when I saw it in use in the Air Force.

[@lostonwallace1396]

According to Wikipedia: In railroading, is the amount of free movement of one car before it transmits its motion to an adjoining coupled car. This free movement results from the fact that in railroad practice cars are loosely coupled, and the coupling is often combined with a shock-absorbing device, a "draft gear", which, under stress, substantially increases the free movement as the train is started or stopped. Loose coupling is necessary to enable the train to bend around curves and is an aid in starting heavy trains, since the application of the locomotive power to the train operates on each car in the train successively, and the power is thus utilized to start only one car at a time.

[@clinthowe7629]

when a locomotive takes off it has to move gently and slowly to take up all the slack between the couplers so the passengers don’t get slammed on their faces.

[@bmaluginthevanishingman6034]

I have an Illinois Central gulf caboose in our backyard we're in the process of remodeling it

[@gothicshadowstgg]

I was wondering about a bathroom and you answered the question, just as I was thinking, did it have one?

[@able880]

On the train or a gray hound bus the toilets were sort of a large funnel - u could see the road or the rail bed when u went to the bathroom - that was in the 60s - I can remember seeing the ground when I used a bath room in rail cars and busses

[@jimrossi7708]

👍🏼 the Conductor doesn’t have much room , but it must have been worse for the band !?

[@KDubielak]

If I was a conductor of a BNSF train I would ride in the caboose

[@Wilett614]

That Generator is ATTACHED to the AXLE shaft NOT the Wheel : ))

[@BleedingBlackBlood69]

When you think about it cabooses were the first campers-RVs

[@KDubielak]

I have been inside of Frisco caboose in sulgent Alabama

[@daveyboy_]

Caboose's were the coolest