goutal@stoli.DEC (05/06/86)
Thanks, Christopher Byrnes, for your treatise on transfer cabeese. Aside on caboose use: The only caboose I see in regular use is out of Manchester (NH) yard on the run down to Grenier Field. The Manchester caboose is definitely a minimal caboose, possessing neither cupola, bay windows, nor porches. It's quite short. I'm a little surprised it's got full trucks instead of single axles! When in use, as often as not, it's right next to the engine, rather than on the tail of the train. On the run into downtown Manchester (International Paper, Agway, etc), they use neither hack nor eotm. I would guess that the caboose is now only used only as a portapotty, which would certainly be handier near the engine (!), and would explain its presence on the run through the wilderness enroute to the airfield and beyond -- in town they can just visit a gas station! -- Kenn ...decvax!decwrl!rhea!parrot!goutal