Caboose

.... my English is a desaster, Andy, but in German we have a word "Kabuff" or "Kabäuschen" (may be jiddish roots), means a small hut ...

It was traditionally the last car on the train, where the crew would keep an eye on things. It had a cupola in the middle so someone could overlook the rest of the train back toward the locomotive. They haven't been used in years, altho one state (Montana?) mandated that they still be used, after the railroads had otherwise abandoned them--a little officially sponsored featherbedding! You can now find old cabooses (cabeese?) repurposed as things like quaint vacation cabins. Here's one at a bed & breakfast in Cle Elum, Washington state:
www.ipernity.com/doc/289859/22969459/in/album/440431

Just tonight I saw a video of a caboose tiny home in Portland! I remember them well, it was mandatory for kids to wave at the crew in the caboose as it went by. I've seen inside one and it was fitted with a small wood or coal stove, mini-kitchen, bunks, etc. ;-)

Thanks for the info, Steve!

Aha! I wonder if caboose came from kabuff! See Steve's description below.