Florida East Coast to acquire 24 GE ES44C4's

[Erik W]

Doesn't completely quash my grudge with FEC, however... forced by the protracted strike during the Ball years, FEC was singularly responsible for proving you could run mainline trains without cabooses. Yeah, FREDs would have come eventually, but FEC's success with the program killed cabooses about 10 years earlier than it would have occurred otherwise. Thanks a bunch.

Interesting.  I never knew that.  Modeling 1956 like I do, cabooses are still alive and well.  I wonder if anyone modeling modern RRs in an otherwise prototypically accurate fashion has cabooses on their layout.

Erik

[nkalanaga]

I see NS cabooses quite often in Prichard, WV.  True, they're on MOW trains, but they are cabooses, they are in NS paint, and they are on a train.  They also have solar panels on the roofs.

[jnevis]

I've seen a couple UP and BNSF trains with cabeese on them in the LA Basin.  Yes, they are not a true caboose as they have the windows covered (some, not all), and they are used as "Shoving platforms" for a crew member to ride on for long pushbacks, but they are still in company paint and attached to the train.

http://ww.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2839276
http://ww.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1388071