Norfolk & Western caboose 555012 was built by the International Car Company in Kenton, Ohio, completed in April 1976 at a cost of $45,000 as Norfolk & Western Railway 555012. In 1976, the Norfolk & Western Railway placed an order for one hundred new cabooses with the International Car Company, and 555012 was one of that group, the last cabooses built for the N&W. Its configuration and appointments came directly from the company catalog and were typical of the last generation of cabooses built for American railroads. Cabooses often were assigned to specific train crews and replaced on a train when the crew changed, but 555012 was a pool caboose that stayed on the train even when crews changed, a practice that saved time while crews received extra pay to serve on pool cabooses. Its color probably reflected tradition rather than function, since in earlier days an engineer could glance back and easily spot a red caboose to confirm that the train had not accidentally split in two. The car was retired in 1990 after only fourteen years of service, as electronic devices that monitor brake pressure and unsafe conditions had made cabooses obsolete.