CSX is missing one of the most essential things, the caboose. I'm surprised this hasn't been introduced sooner rather than later. It's more than just a home, it's like a plan B also if anything goes wrong at the front of the train the caboose has access to the breaks so it can stop the train. Having a caboose railcar in CSX scenarios would make them more interactive as well, there would be tons of things to do.
Usage of cabooses in the US has gone way down since the advent of the end-of-train device in the 1980s. The EOTD can give you pretty much all the information you would need from the back of the train (brake pipe pressure and speed), and the railroad doesn't have to pay a third person to ride along for most of the trip. CSX has a very small number of cabooses still in service, but they are all used for branch line operations where the train may be reversing for a long time.
Exactly correct, as much as I miss seeing a caboose and being able to wave to the conductor riding on it. CSX Heavy Haul is set in a modern time frame, which sadly does not have a caboose.
While I Posted this topic, just came across a "Chessie" caboose parked on the side of the railway. I am very much against their decision to rule out the caboose on such a mass scale. It's iconic to the railway. I wonder if the devs could work something out for us. It's probably too late to start a petition to re-introduce the caboose in real life. CSX dose still have cabooses which is great, this could acually be reflected here in the sim, its the way in.
The few cabooses seen are either being moved somewhere or being used in small local moves. The last caboose I saw was on a August evening in 2012. Was on NS 165, was yellow and had a flashing strobe light.
How about we get a US heritage pack, with older locos where a caboose would be used? Some old high nosed Alcos, or something.