What Happened to the Caboose? The Job That Ended With It

Who took 12,000 cabooses off America's freight trains in the 1980s, and why did the rear brakeman's job go with them? The answer sits in labor contracts and federal rulings more than in any electronic gadget. In the mid-1920s, about 34,000 cabooses rode American rails. In 1982 a new one cost roughly $80,000, and the carriers put the saving from dropping them all at $400 million a year. The Florida East Coast had already been running without cabooses since 1972, using an end-of-train device. The rest of the industry waited for a contract. What this video covers: 1863 - T. B. Watson and the first cupola lookout 1963 - The strike that took the Florida East Coast out of national bargaining 1982 - The emergency board that let railroads drop cabooses from a quarter of through freights 1986 - The federal rule that called the caboose a bargaining question 1991 - The crew-size bargaining that took the brakeman off through freights If you ever waved at the man in a caboose cupola as a freight rolled past your crossing, tell us where it was in the comments. Subscribe for more histories of the railroads America lost. The box made it possible. The contract made it happen.