Why is a caboose called a hack?

The first station wagons were a product of the age of train travel. They were originally called 'depot hacks' because they worked around train depots as hacks (short for hackney carriage, an old name for taxis). They also came to be known as 'carryalls' and 'suburbans'.



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Technology eventually advanced to a point where the railroads, in an effort to save money by reducing crew members, stated that cabooses were unnecessary. New diesel locomotives had large cabs that could house entire crews.

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Wooden or metal cabooses were often painted red for safety reasons. Some companies, however, painted them a different color to match their locomotive or freight cars. The 1948 Chesapeake and Ohio Caboose on display in downtown Winter Garden is painted bright yellow.

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A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting, keeping a lookout for load shifting, damage to equipment and cargo, and overheating axles.

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In the UK, a 'rake of coaches / carriages' describes a set of passenger coaches pulled by a locomotive. Trains can also be described as a 'formation', particularly when both passenger and freight stock is used.

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In the US, they're called “train engineers”. In the UK and other English-speaking countries, I believe they're called “train operators”.

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The conductor title is most common in North American railway operations, but the role is common worldwide under various job titles. In Commonwealth English, a conductor is also known as guard or train manager. A conductor on an Amtrak train.

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London Underground, also called the Tube, underground railway system that services the London metropolitan area.

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In Britain, a comfortable bus that carries passengers on long journeys is called a coach. The coach leaves Cardiff at twenty to eight. In America, a vehicle designed for long journeys is usually called a bus.

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Thus, while drivers may have fewer hours for sleep in between successive work periods, they are likely to sleep more often in a single day and to be awake for correspondingly shorter periods. Relay van workers must also sleep in noisy crew-van carriages that shudder and vibrate along with the movement of the train.

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Just as cabooses were variously called hacks, crummies, cabins, etc., end-of-train devices go by a variety of names. Besides ETD, there's EOT, marker, FRED or Freddy (flashing rear-end device), and even Billy and Redman. The simplest ETDs are merely darkness-actuated flashing lights that serve only as markers.

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