WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE LITTLE RED CABOOSES?

What has happened to the railroad caboose which used to be the final car on most large freight trains?

Recently, one of the 32-ton vehicles was positioned at a site in Marble Hill for future use as a museum.

Another caboose, currently vacant at Metropolis, Ill., has served as a sandwich shop and later an ice cream parlor.

The caboose at Tamms is utilized for storage space. Tamms, an unique railroad town, has its city hall in the former train depot.

One "Little Red Caboose" is still in use by the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railway, an excursion train headquartered at Jackson.

One resident utilizes his 9 x 30-foot railroad relic as a dressing facility for his swimming pool.

Yet another uses a 50-foot long caboose as a vacation home.

The caboose, a special car

The little red (yellow, green, etc) caboose, was formerly used by railroad brakemen, conductors and other railroad officials as an office. kitchen, or for resting.

The caboose, as Webster's Dictionary describes it, is "a special railroad car used at the end of freight trains.

Big on the railroad scene before the days of hand-held radios and other two-way communications, its primary use was to watch for safety problems, but crew members also did paper work and cooked meals there.

They featured a warm, pot-bellied stove, bathroom, sleeping bunks, and storage bins.

Conductors and brakemen could keep an eye on a long freight train from a little cupola that rested almost atop the caboose. The cupola was designed to hold a crew member who could see over the entire train.

Some cabooses also had a "bay window" structure, sticking out from the side of the caboose.

But, the caboose eventually became a problem itself. It was expensive to use. Cabooses had to have special glass, approved by the Federal Railroad Administration. It also had to have electric, water and sewage facilities.

And, when the freight train was "switching," the caboose had to be set aside, and picked up later.

When railroads went from a five-person freight crew to the two or three needed today, it was time to say goodbye to the caboose, which had been a part of American history and lore for the past century.

F.R.E.D.

Some cabooses are still used, but most have been relegated to the scrap pile, or sold to people who want to fix them up, and turn them into fixed structures.

So, what has replaced the little red caboose?

F.R.E.D.!

Fred?

That's a "Flashing Rear End Device," or better known as FRED.

So, you want a caboose?

You've got an empty space on your property, and you could use a workshop, studio or guest house.

You know where to find a 9 x 40-foot caboose, and it's just what you need.

Or, is it?

Before you get too far along with the purchase of the rusting old relic, check the local zoning laws.

Think about the work. The caboose you spotted in a nearby junk yard, is minus windows, it's rusting, needs paint, and is located 35 to 40 miles from its permanent location, this is a 30-ton moving job.

But the inside of the old caboose isn't half bad. It contains the original old ice box, an old, but small, pot-bellied stove, and has a number of storage bins, along with spots for two bunks.

The restoration job will take a lot of sweeping, mopping, patching, some paint, and lot of elbow grease.

And this one does have the cupola.

At one time in history, when railroads first started disposing of their cabooses, a person could find an one for $500 to $1,200, and the railroad would deliver to a nearby siding for free.

Don't expect this kind of deal now.

Searching many lists, on the internet and with railroad officials, the going price for a caboose now could run from $9,000 to $12,000, and even more.

Transportation costs have increased.

But, once you finally have your caboose in place, there is room inside for beds, showers, toilets, and even a color television.

One of the biggest headaches for caboose owners, say owners, is keeping the roof from leaking. Original roofs were often covered with strips of canvas and coats of tar, and the years of rolling up and down the tracks can leave joints and fittings loose.

Buying could be the easy part

Buying the caboose could be the easiest part.

The hard part is moving and setting it up.

Here's what one family wound up with on expenses, a half-dozen years ago.

-- Cost of the caboose 6 years ago, $3,600.

-- Obtaining enough rail and cross-ties to "park" the vehicle, $1,600.

-- Moving the caboose, 100 miles via rail, and three miles, to the exact location. $2,678.

-- Remodeling, etc., $3,000.

-- About 400 hours labor.

-- This comes to $10,878, and more than 400 hours.