Caboose

ka-boos', a Dutch name for the ship's kitchen or cookroom. In the United States the name is applied to the car in which the conductor, brakeman, and other employes of a freight train ride. Each crew has its own caboose. It is fitted up frequently with bunks for sleeping, and provided with facilities for cooking or, at least, warming food. When long distance trains reach the end of a crew's run the caboose is switched off into the yard, and the caboose of the new crew put in its place for the next run. The caboose is fitted usually with a sort of observation tower from which to watch the progress of the train, and from which access may be gained through a window to the roof of the car. For real sightseeing a ride in this tower is ahead of a seat in an observation car. See Railways