Audio Transcript:
For more than a century, the caboose was a familiar sight at the end of almost every American freight train. The caboose served several purposes. It was the conductor's office where the conductor would work on the train's paperwork. It often served as the conductor's home away from home. The rear end brakeman would ride the caboose and help the conductor. They would watch the train for shifting loads, in-route damage and the infamous hotbox when friction bearings would fail and could start fires.
The Western Pacific Railroad Museum at Portola has an extensive collection of various styles of cabooses used on the WP and other western roads.
We run a demonstration caboose train on summer weekends and other special events that you can ride and see for yourself what the world looked like from the rear of a freight train.
