09-02-2009, 07:00 PM
Cabooses were rolling office cars for the conductor, as well as living quarters while underway for the rear brakeman and the conductor. As such most cabooses were very short. The longest ones were either combination cars used for passengers as well as the rear end crew on short lines or drover's cabooses used as a place for for wranglers to ride to accompany cattle shipments. I've never seen a caboose big enough to do the job of a caboose and also house any sort of prime mover. I hesitate to say never, but unless someone has a picture or other evidence of a powered caboose, I would say there was never any sort of prototype. I can't even think of any reason why a railroad would want to power a caboose.