Observations of two mass-losing carbon stars in the Galactic halo, IRA
S 08546 + 1732 and 12560 + 1656, are presented, These objects were dis
covered serendipitously, and stand out from the usual carbon stars st
high galactic latitudes in that they have optical and IRAS colours con
sistent with current mass-loss, New optical spectra, CO observations,
and modelling of the spectral energy distribution and of the CO lines
are presented, Luminosities are derived using a period-luminosity rela
tion. From the dust modelling IRAS 085+6 +1732 is found to be al 20 kp
c from the Sun (11.3 kpc from the Galactic plane) and has a mass-loss
rate of 3.3 x 10(-6) M. yr(-1). From the CO non-detection we deduce th
at it is probably oxygen-deficient, corroborating earlier work. IRAS 1
2560 + 1656 is found to be at 8.0 kpc from the Sun (7.8 kpc from the G
alactic plane) and has a mass-loss rate of 1.3 x 10(-6) M. yr(-1). The
detection of the (CO)-C-12 J=2-1 transition in the spectrum of IRAS 1
2560 + 1656 after an integration time of 10 h makes it probably the lo
ngest (CO)-C-12 integration on a stellar object. The detection itself
makes the star one of the most distant stellar objects detected in the
CO line. The outflow velocity of 3.2 km s(-1) is very low, and the st
ellar velocity is + 88 km s(-1) with respect to the LSR. Modelling of
the CO line implies an oxygen abundance of 0.7 dex below solar. We exa
mine existing data on the 'faint high-latitude carbon stars' and ident
ify two additional distant, mass-losing, N-type AGE stars, The nature
of halo carbon stars is discussed, and suggestions on how to find more
mass-losing halo AGE stars are presented.