Host Mo Rocca meets with Chief Curator Marc Greuther to talk about the history of cabooses on trains. The caboose was the conductor's office, the crew's quarters and the observation platform from which to spot problems with the train. It could also be dangerous. "Slack action" sudden movement when slack ran in and out of a moving train could toss riders about. Computerized record keeping, trackside defect detectors and smaller crews made the caboose obsolete by the 1980s.

Learn more about the artifacts featured in this segment:
Detroit Toledo & Ironton Railroad Caboose, 1925 https://www.thehenryford.org/collecti...

Detroit & Mackinac Railway Caboose, 1912 https://www.thehenryford.org/collecti...

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