Beyond Caboose Falls—Preserving the Stories Behind Cabooses

We’ve added a new page to our website dedicated to the nicknames and slang used by railroad crews who worked in cabooses.
Continue reading “New on the Site: Celebrating Caboose History”A little railroad in the woods
Beyond Caboose Falls—Preserving the Stories Behind Cabooses
We’ve added a new page to our website dedicated to the nicknames and slang used by railroad crews who worked in cabooses.
Continue reading “New on the Site: Celebrating Caboose History”Forget calling our P&LE 518 just ‘some old caboose.’ This car is a railroad legend with a surprising talent for disguise! Need proof? Just look inside Dwight Jones’s definitive work, C&O/B&O Cabooses – Display and Private Owner Cars (Vol. 4). There it is, a veteran of the New York Central System, comfortably nestled among cabooses from rival line Baltimore & Ohio! This unexpected cameo perfectly captures why 518 is such a fascinating railroading character.
Continue reading “P&LE 518: Master of Disguise & Bookworm”There’s something poetic about old cabooses. Some are polished like trophies. Others rot quietly, waiting for someone to notice them before they vanish. And then there are the ones you stumble upon by pure luck, like winning the caboose lottery. We saw it all in our recent day trip of hunting captive cabooses near Cleveland.
Continue reading “Field Trip: The Caboose Chronicles”From thundering steam engines to today’s mighty diesels, railroads have powered America’s story. Modern trains may be high-tech, but nothing beats the nostalgic click-clack of the rails and the romance of railroad history.
This National Train Day, we’re tipping our hats to the folks who kept the wheels turning, the innovations that changed the game, and yes—even those wonderful cabooses (like ours!) that still make us smile. Whether you’re a die-hard railfan or just love trains, take a moment to appreciate how they’ve connected us, driven progress, and inspired generations.
Not every relic in the woods is lost. Some are just waiting to be remembered.
Continue reading “The Forgotten Mile: A Marker Without a Map”There aren’t a lot of things as thrilling as uncovering a long-lost piece of history, especially when it involves one of the cars here at Caboose Falls. Thanks to railfan and super-sleuth Robert Bogie, we now have a remarkable addition to our archive: an image of Pittsburgh & Lake Erie (P&LE) Caboose #518 in its original configuration and second paint scheme!
Continue reading “A Rare Glimpse into History: P&LE 518 in Century Green”We arrived at Caboose Falls with tools and gloves, ready for a day of work. But our plans were quickly switched onto a different track.
Continue reading “What the Rain Revealed: Unplanned History Lessons”We’re thrilled to share this remarkable glimpse into railroad history: a photograph of our Pittsburgh & Lake Erie (P&LE) Caboose #518 in action, captured by acclaimed rail photographer Roger Durfee on May 15, 1987. The image freezes a pivotal moment in American railroading history when twilight was casting a shadow on the need for cabooses .
Continue reading “Trifecta: P&LE Cabooses 517, 501, and 518”If you’ve followed our page for any length of time, you know we can’t resist exploring the rich history of Caboose Falls. Sometimes, that passion even derails our planned projects, and today was a perfect example.
Continue reading “Wooden Relic: The Crossarm Rescue Mission”Ever seen a subway car cruising down the highway? Our weekend at Caboose Falls started with exactly that. An unexpected railfanning moment set the tone for a weekend of family chaos, freight trains, and a daring cleanup mission to dislodge a decades-old heap of rusted metal from atop the falls.
Continue reading “Family, Freight, and Falling Metal: Weekend Update”