CN Caboose #79346

The caboose was built in 1967. The caboose, rails, ties, and the motorized hand-car are all donations from the CNR.

Cabooses have always been restricted to those having a reason for being there.  Few outsiders knew exactly what was in a Caboose, or what went on inside, other than being a place for the crew to ride.  The Caboose, to the railway workers, was an office and a home away from home, as well as being a lookout.  The conductor and two brakemen ate and slept in their caboose, which was assigned exclusively to them for their personal use.

The Caboose was also equipped with a stove, used for cooking and eating meals in their away-from-home terminals, or even enroute on particular long hauls.  Their days were a lot longer than today’s railway workers.  Nowadays, rail workers have a maximum work shift of 10-12 hours.  Coleman camp stoves were used for cooking in the earlier cabooses, but in the newer models, the cabooses were equipped with oil stoves.  What the men ate depended on their own personal cooking abilities!

The cupola is a lookout point where the crew rode to watch for trouble with the train, an important safety feature.  Things they would watch for included smoke or fire from a hot box (wheel Journal), shifted loads, and dragging equipment.  Dragging equipment was evidenced by freshly damaged ties.

The amount of equipment that was carried in a caboose was tremendous.  There was literally a ton of equipment and supplies!  This did not include living needs such as mattresses and bedding, cooking utensils, pots and pans, dishes and cutlery, etc.  The following is a January 1955 Standard list of equipment to be carried in cabooses: