Railroad fans can get a taste of the train conductor's life during this weekend's event at the Midland Railway in Baldwin.
Once an important part of the train, cabooses, little red or otherwise, have gone the antiquated way of the steam engine.
But this weekend, cabooses again will clickety-clack down the tracks as part of a two-caboose run during Railfans Weekend at the Midland Railway at the old Santa Fe Railway depot, 1515 W. High St. in Baldwin.
Known as "crummies" or "way cars" to people in the railroad business, cabooses served as both office and living quarters for the conductors on freight trains, said Tom Wheeler, one of the engineers for the Midland Railway.
Until the early 1960s conductors would stay with the same caboose, which would be switched from train to train as needed, Wheeler said.
"If you were a conductor you had a caboose assigned to you," Wheeler said. "It was like a home away from home."
Cabooses had bathrooms, a stove, water tanks, sleeping spaces and a desk where the conductor could do paperwork for the freight load.
From the cupola that poked out the top of the caboose, the conductor and rear brakeman could watch the train during turns for the smoke or flame signaling a "hot box."
Hot boxes were train cars with axles that had become overheated, Wheeler said.
If they weren't caught in time, the friction would melt through the axle and derail the train.
Before the advent of radios, the conductor could use lanterns that hung on the back of the train to signal the engineer to stop.
But the conductor had an emergency brake lever as well.
Wheeler owns one of the cabooses run by the Midland Railway.
This weekend is a celebration recalling the glory days of railroading.
The two-caboose run will be at 10 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
The excursion train runs into Franklin County and back on 6 miles of track through the end of October.
Other special, hour-long excursions this weekend will depart at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Each run will include a former Kansas City Southern Railroad Postal Office car, offering commemorative postal cancellations. Former railroad postal clerks will be on-hand to talk about the days when mail was picked up, sorted, bagged and thrown off at each station.
The railway's collection also includes three engines that will be linked for the final run each day.
Fares are $8 for adults, $4 for children ages 4 through 12 and younger children free. All day passes are $20.
-- Kendrick Blackwood's phone message number is 832-7221. His e-mail address is kblackwood@ljworld.com.
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