A Brief History of the Caboose It's called by many names - van, cabin, way car, crummy, hack and many more that are not printable. But call it what you may, it is, next to the locomotive, the most recognizable car on the train. The first caboose is historically credited to Nat Williams, a conductor on the Albany & Syracuse Railroad. Legend has it that Williams was searching for a place to do his paperwork and a "safe" place to ride, so he grabbed a spare boxcar and made it his "office". He stashed spare tools, parts and other things like oil, oil cans and flags in the car and set up a box on its end so he would have a place to do the paperwork. The box also doubled as his dining table. By the 1850's, the conductor's office car had become more or less customary. As freight trains became longer, more brakemen were required to ride the train to manually set and release the brakes. Some of these brakemen naturally were assigned to the end of the train so they rode in the office car in addition to the conductor. The conductor was using his office (cabooses were generally being assigned to specific conductors by this time) as a tool to help him look over the train by allowing him to see down the sides of the train to look for signs of overheated journals or evidence of dragging equipment. He often was able to catch a glimpse of non-fare paying passengers. The first caboose with a cupola is credited to a Chicago & Northwestern Railroad conductor named T. B. Watson in 1898. His regularly assigned caboose was unavailable for some reason so he did what many conductors did and commandeered a spare boxcar. Unfortunately, this one had a hole in the roof and he didn't notice the hole until it was too late to make a change. While rolling down the rails, he decided to climb up and stick his head out the hole to see what he could see. He was awestruck by the view and the ability to overlook the train so he asked the Clinton, Iowa car shops to make him a lookout on his caboose with the hole in the roof. The word cupola didn't come into play until sometime in the early 1900's. The caboose served as an office, a place for the rear end crew to ride in relative safety and comfort, a bunk house, a restaurant on wheels and often a place to relax, tell stories or play cards. Early models were made of wood and like the farmers who needed to preserve their barns by painting them with a mixture of milk and rust, were painted for preservation. Later, the caboose became the most often used place for the logo of the railroad and became, along with the boxcar, a rolling bill board for the railroad's advertising. The first metal caboose was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1914. The railroad maintained the exterior of the caboose but the conductor was given free reign to make the interior as much like home as he wanted. He often had family pictures on the wall as well as curtains his wife had made. He was responsible for the interior of the car. The name "caboose" is thought to be a derivative of the Dutch word "kabuis" or "kombuis" whose meaning is a small room aboard sailing ships where meals were prepared, much like a galley. Types of cabooses The early cabooses were no more than confiscated boxcars made crudely into the conductors' office. Then came the caboose with a view - the cupola. The cupola was located either at or closer to one end or in the middle. As the trains became longer still and the cars became taller, the line of sight from the cupola wasn't what it once was so out of necessity, came the extended vision cupola caboose. This caboose has the cupola extended approximately eight inches wider than the body of the caboose thus allowing the conductor to see somewhat along the side of the train. This worked better than the ordinary cupola caboose but still wasn't the best.