The Big Red Caboose Traditional Geocache

This is a regular-size geocache hidden nearby one of my favorite railroad displays at the Fairfax Station Railroad Museum, a red Southern Railway caboose! This is perfect place for kids and rail fans alike. The caboose is a 1968 Norfolk Western cupola model, which was donated by the Norfolk Southern Railroad Company through the kind arrangements of John Marino, then President of Rail America, Inc. in 1993. It was professionally painted in 2005 to depict a Southern Railway caboose. Professional tracklayers traveled to Virginia from Michigan to assist volunteers in laying the track that supports the caboose.

Cabooses served multiple roles, including providing shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were required for switching (assembly and reassembly of railroad cars), to keep a lookout for load shifting, damage to equipment and cargo, or overheating axles. Designs were originally modified boxcars or flatbed cars carrying a cabin, but later became specialized vehicles, with projections above (Cupola or "standard" model) and to the sides of the car (Bay window model) so crew could observe the train from shelter. The car also served as the conductor's office, and on long routes, included accommodation and cooking facilities. Cabooses were used on every freight train until the 1980s, when safety laws requiring the presence of cabooses and full crews were relaxed. Developments in monitoring and safety technology, combined with rail companies' desire to save money by reducing crew numbers resulted in the phasing out of caboose cars. Nowadays, cabooses are generally only used on rail maintenance or hazardous materials trains, or on heritage and tourist railroads. (Source: Wikipedia)

The Fairfax Station Railroad Museum is open on the weekends usually on Sundays from 1-4 pm. It is a great place to view model train displays, explore local Civil War history, railroading, and learning the fascinating story of the local Fairfax Station community. A small admission fee is required to enter, but you do not need to enter the museum to find this cache.

The container includes some kid friendly swag for trading and a small prize for FTF. Please replace cache and camo as found. This cache is hidden with the full permission of the Fairfax Station Railroad Museum and to the full knowledge of their staff. Please be respectful of other visitors and cautious of the muggles around. Unless posted otherwise, all grounds of the museum is open from Dawn to Dusk. Night caching at this site are expressly forbidden.