A Crummy Shot. It was an ordinary sight 17 years ago today, June 26, 2007, when Norfolk Southern H37 found an opening in between SEPTA regional trains to return to Chrysler Yard in Newark, Delaware, seen here passing through the station. CR 21261 is an N21 caboose, one of 113 that were built by Fruit Growers Express (FGE) in Alexandria, Virginia, the only new caboose order by Conrail. Caboose, sometimes nicknamed "crummy", is a term slipping out of railroad vernacular as most are now "shoving platforms" (no accommodations inside). In the modern era they have been replaced on road trains by EOTs (End Of Train Devices) of varying types, but in times past the caboose could be manned by several employees with beds, a stove, and facilities. At that time this train handled all of the customers on the Northeast Corridor from Red Mill, Maryland to Wilmington, Delaware. Chrysler Yard has since been downsized in scope, mostly seeing only interchange with the Delmarva Central Railroad or crude oil to Reybold.
