When I worked on freight trains, we always had a caboose. Now, because of the downsizing of railroad crews, there is no brakeman and no caboose on the rear. It takes time to walk a mile-long freight train, as most are, and the problem always seems to be at the rear of the train. At Burlington, the conductor was walking back to fix the problem by himself, with precious minutes ticking away as rescue squads waited to get to the accident victims. With cabooses, we were able to clear the crossing with an employee on the rear to allow emergency vehicles to get across.
Most people are surprised to learn that there are no longer cabooses on trains.
Under this new technology that railroad executives are salivating over, a single employee on the ground will use a remote-control box to operate an unoccupied locomotive. This is a classic example of profit before safety. In this new age of downsized railroad operations, the lines at crossings won't move any faster, and emergency vehicles and motorists will still have to wait. Michael R. Doyle Amtrak Conductor Correction Robert Miranda's commentary last week contained a typo that rendered the wrong number for a constitutional amendment.