Just Needs Buffing
The Caboose has not been used on trains since the mid 1980's. With
regulations and improvements in safety, cabooses where cut from trains
to save money.
Here is what Wikipedia says about cabooses. "A caboose is a manned
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.
Originally flatcars fitted with cabins or modified box cars, they
later became purpose-built with projections above or to the sides of the
car to allow crew to observe the train from shelter. The caboose also
served as the conductor's office, and on long routes included sleeping
accommodations and cooking facilities.
A similar railroad car, the brake van, was used on British and
Commonwealth railways (the role has since been replaced by the crew car
in Australia). On trains not fitted with continuous brakes, brake vans
provided a supplementary braking system, and they helped keep chain
couplings taut.
Cabooses were used on every freight train in the United States until
the 1980s when safety laws requiring the presence of cabooses and full
crews were relaxed. Developments in monitoring and safety technology,
such as lineside defect detectors and end-of-train devices, resulted in
crew reductions and the phasing out of caboose cars. Nowadays, they are
generally only used on rail maintenance or hazardous materials trains,
as a platform for crew on industrial spur lines when it is required to
make long reverse movements, or on heritage and tourist railroads.