Caption: As a literal followup to my post a week ago of a Nitinat log train in the snow, here is the tailend, nicely punctuated by caboose CP 437148, right on the crossing of Westholme Road in the village of the same name on Tuesday 1980-01-08 at 1324 PST. Those logs are from Lake Cowichan, and are for dumping into the saltchuck at Crown Zellerbach’s dump at Ladysmith, 11 miles ahead, then it will be cab hop onward to Wellcox yard on the Nanaimo waterfront.

By the blind luck of my timing on the planet, I got to know train order and caboose operations well on Vancouver Island, and frequently photographed the tailend of a train after catching the headend. Years later, in 1989, part of my work was readying locomotive equipment for cabooseless operation, distance-counting digital speedometers and end-of-train communications devices, and I was really glad I took so many caboose photos.

A very Happy 2024 to all.