what is the purpose of a caboose on a train
The Railroad Caboose. For more than a century the railroad caboose was a fixture on the end of freight trains. The real purpose of the caboose was to provide a sheltered vantage point from which trainmen could watch the cars ahead, sleep, cook and eat their meals, and do their paperwork. It served as the working headquarters of the freight conductor and his rear brakeman.