Different twist on small cabins

[Redoverfarm]

Thought this was really 

http://caboose.littlethings.com/train-caboose-tiny-house-home/?utm_source=cl&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=houses

[MountainDon]

    I like everything but the snow piled up.     

[rick91351]

John most of us that worked on train and engine crews use to fantasize about turning a caboose into a cabin way back.  But most never took it as far as those.  It is funny the railroadeze of the day termed cabooses as being crummies.  Some rear end crews kept theirs spick and span,  Some well let me tell you not so much.    BUT NONE were like you posting.  I really don't know. Wink!!  They have sort'a of lost their rustic utilitarian charm. The ambience just is not there.   

The spick and span bunch if you happened to walk into their crummy with muddy feet.  Oh my word especially for the new hire, or of all things a company officer.  But then some of us engine crews were that way with our locomotives as well.  I use to ask company officers. "Have I ever walked into your office with muddy feet like that?  Well this is my office and my home way more than my home, I expect the same." Surprising how you could turn a butt chewing around if you had a little ammunition. 
     

[Redoverfarm]

Rick around here with Chessie and N&S the caboose has all but disappeared as a unit of the line.  Most have replaced it with a flashing beacon light on the last railcar.  I guess since most trains have been improved and communications is better they figured that dragging the caboose was not that cost efficient.  I still look for it though while waiting at the crossing.

[rick91351]

The American Assn of Railroads pulled the pin on cabooses back in the 80's.  We fought to keep them but $$$ of course won.  We took the issue of public safety.  We lost - then we remounted another attack knowing that the caboose was a lost cause, a dying dinosaur about to go as extinct as the steam engine.  So I went on the fight with several others and got the FRA (Federal Railway Administration ) and the two Unions into the fray as well.  There were two types of rear end devices at that time that provided night time illumination or a rear end marker.  Neither provided for the ability to actuate an emergency propagation of the braking system from the rear end.

Now here is where we were able to make great inroads to safety and the carriers (railroads) were unable to counter.  With a train air braking system, forget all you have seen about Hollywood and trains.  To be honest -very honest about it - it is very rare you need to the ability to do such.  But when you have to you have to.  This is often though rare caused by a constriction or a blockage in the brake pipe.  So you have a 10,000 or 15,000  or 20,000 ton coal train and you are cresting a hill (mountain).  You apply your first air brake reduction and nothing happens.  You look and the reading from the rear end device and it  is still showing a full charge on the rear end.  Your speed is picking up.  You reduce your brake pipe more.  You now have a ten pound set you have more train over the hill and it is really coming after you.  Still no  change in the rear in air reading or it might be very slowly reducing.  You place  your train in emergency.  You have just emptied your brake pipe of air and in theory, your train is now in emergency.  But it is only in emergency as far as the constriction or blockage.  With a caboose the head end could call the rear end and tell them to dump the air or place the train in emergency.  Or they might notice they are going way to fast they could just place the train in emergency say in case of radio failure.  With the rear end devices, we had at first it did not allow for this nor were we not afforded at such.  So we dumped all this in the Unions laps and the they went to the FRA and the carriers and soon we had a system that allowed the head end to reach up and toggle and emergency on the rear end from the head end.  But as will all good things we ended up with a ton of new rules and regulations to go with them......  So there went the way of the caboose.  Pure $$$ and crew deduction as well.