Flashing rear end device
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The flashing rear end device, or "FRED," is an electronic device mounted on the end of North American freight trains in lieu of a caboose.
More than just a flashing red taillight, the FRED monitors functions such as brake line pressure and accidental separation of the train, functions that would have been monitored by a crew in the caboose. The FRED transmits the data via a telemetry link to the crew in the locomotive.
Though the FRED greatly cuts labor costs as well as the costs of the purchase and upkeep of cabooses, railroad "purists" seem to agree that a train simply isn't complete without a caboose at the end. The widespread use of FREDs has all but made the caboose obsolete, but some roads still use cabooses where the train must be backed up, on short local runs, as rolling railroad police stations and transportation for right-of-way maintenance crews.