This is the actual cupola caboose depicted in the previous post, showing the cupola from which train crew would look out for the train's safety.
Some crewmen preferred to have the caboose attached to the train so that the cupola would be at the rear; others wanted the cupola at the front.
Plural: caboose, cabooses, or cabeese (goose/geese) - the debate was never settled.
None of the implements of railroading has had more nicknames than the caboose. Many are of American or Canadian origin and seek to describe the vehicle or its occupants in derisive ways. Often heard amongst crews was "crummy" (as in a crummy place to live, not elegant, often too hot or too cold, and perhaps not especially clean), "clown wagon"; "hack", "waycar"; "dog house," "go cart; "glory wagon," "monkey wagon" (a term that indirectly insulted the principal functionary who rode therein, no doubt coined by an engineer), "brain box" (the conductor was supposedly the brains of the train, as opposed to the "hogger" or engineer, who was presumed to be pigheaded), "palace," "buggy" (Boston & Maine/Maine Central), "van" (Eastern and Central Canada, usage possibly derived from the UK term for the caboose).
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