In 2008 the Alaska Railroad was still using cabooses on the rear of the daily gravel trains, as seen here as the AS&G gravel train rolls off the Palmer Branch and onto the mainline at Matanuska Junction.
Coal and steel don't go bad. This album features long, slow, heavy freight trains; drag freights, slop freights, dead freights, etc. Trains with lots of power, and lots of different cargo slogging along behind.