There's no reason for the little red caboose to be male, but in the picture of mountain climbers there's a woman, and women / girls are shown throughout all the places that boys are. Gender isn't as bad, and is better than other contemporaneous books.

Freshly illustrated in the style of the original book, this sweet tale about the Little Red Caboose-who saves a train from slipping down a steep mountain-is the perfect addition to the Step into Reading line. Definitely something to discuss if you read this to a little kid. This Step 1 Step into Reading title has been adapted for early readers from the classic Little Golden Book by Marian Potter. So, portrayal of race and ethnicity leaves out whole groups of peoples and portrays white and Native peoples in stereotyped ways. Don't mix this one up with 'The Little Engine That Could!', although nominally they are both about trains that come through in a crisis.Many crowd scenes of people - almost all of white people then one scene of Native Americans in traditional dress - teepees, etc. Otherwise, there's no real plot here - just scenes of the countryside that the train is going through. The little red caboose by Marian Potter, 1953, Simon and Schuster edition, in English.

The little red caboose is at the end of the train but has a function to fulfill. The Little Red Caboose makes 'his' journey over the mountain and around the countryside.

The Little Red Caboose by Marian Potter