The caboose, and its "rules"

[Brakie]

Were there rules about cleaning and restocking supplies/ number of hours a caboose could be used before needing service? I suppose they might have varied from road to road? That might have operations implications for modelers who want to include caboose movements in their scheme.

Ralph

Ralph,Here's the way it worked on the PRR in Columbus.

A inbound Pittsburgh train rolled into the arrival track.The cabin switcher removed the cabin and took it to the cabin service track where it was cleaned,inspected,restocked and refueled.Then it was taken to the outbound cabin ready track for Yard A -the yard that served trains bound toward Pitcairn and Conway.Now if the train arrived from the West-Logansport,Chicago,St. Louis then the cabin would be place on Yard B's outbound ready cabin track..Later the cabin switcher would pick up a cabin off of(say) Yard A's outbound cabin ready and place it on the outbound train.
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I worked this job several times and it kept us busy since there was 6 yards in what was commonly called the Cleveland Ave yards.