Tomatoes growing on the track, due to....well read this

[GatwickDepress]

There were tomatoes growing on the train at East Croydon in the 90s, which made the national press!

Growing on the train?! Part of an initiative to reduce food costs on the 4Bigs, no doubt.

 

[DarloRich]

This is nothing new at all.

There were tomatoes growing between the tracks in Etches Park sidings, Derby over twenty years ago, for exactly the same reasons described in the article.

I worked in there and saw them, never fancied trying them though!

just give them a good wash - they will be reet

 

[physics34]

Growing on the train?! Part of an initiative to reduce food costs on the 4Bigs, no doubt.

Whoops! Track

 

[455driver]

Growing on the train?! Part of an initiative to reduce food costs on the 4Bigs, no doubt.

I know of quite a few which have a nice moss garden growing on the windows!
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Whoops! Track

na its okay, train was funnier!

 

[Yew]

'a disgusting secret' that has been the default method of waste disposal since the railways where invented..

 

[455driver]

'a disgusting secret' that has been the default method of waste disposal since the railways where invented..

Which just goes to show how good we all are at keeping a secret!

 

[Moonshark]

Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil Panini anyone?

 

[Tibbs]

This is nothing new at all.

There were tomatoes growing between the tracks in Etches Park sidings, Derby over twenty years ago, for exactly the same reasons described in the article.

I worked in there and saw them, never fancied trying them though!

Just bear in mind that if you've eaten rice, particularly from Japan and Thailand, chances are you've eaten food fertilised by human manure.

It's no different to eating stuff grown in other animals' manure!

 

[HarleyDavidson]

You can eat them and enjoy the fruit of someone else's labours.

 

[backontrack]

There were tomatoes growing on the train at East Croydon in the 90s, which made the national press!

That's nothing compared to inside the toilet of a crowded Voyager

 

[laraowen]

Hello,

My name is Lara Owen and I am working on a story for BBC Birmingham about human excrement that rail maintenance and rail engineers have to encounter on a daily basis. I was wondering if you had any contacts of individuals who work on the tracks and have had any persistent problems with this. If they work in the West Midlands, that would be even better.

We are trying to look at the problem in general rather than hold any particular company to account. Any infomation would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards,
Lara

Lara Owen - West Midlands Daily TV
BBC Birmingham Mailbox
0121 567 6184

 

[Cherry_Picker]

I can't think of any trains which cross Birmingham or the West Mids which dump toilet waste on the track. It's all CET (controlled emission toilets) on the regions trains with the possible exception of the XC HST which runs through the region between Cheltenham and Burton twice a day.

 

[CC 72100]

150s dump on the tracks don't they? I didn't think they were advanced to have CET equipment?

 

[D1009]

150s dump on the tracks don't they? I didn't think they were advanced to have CET equipment?

How many 150s are still around in the West Mids though?

 

[CC 72100]

How many 150s are still around in the West Mids though?

A few on the Hereford line, no?

Do the 153s dump too? If so you could add them, they do show up around the West Midlands.

(Although both are not in massive quantities)

 

[D1009]

A few on the Hereford line, no?

Do the 153s dump too? If so you could add them, they do show up around the West Midlands.

(Although both are not in massive quantities)

So not as much excrement on the track as there used to be. As mentioned earlier, not a news story.

 

[reb0118]

Who plants the tomato plants? Or should one not ask where the seeds originate from?................

 

[455driver]

Who plants the tomato plants? Or should one not ask where the seeds originate from?................

I am sure you can work it out!
If not I am sure somebody has already 'worked it out' for you!

 

[TDK]

I would have thought that there would be some H&S law against it by now if only for the sake of track workers, I don't know how difficult it would be to modify old rolling stock

Not only track workers but passengers waiting on a platform as a class 158 goes thundering through at 90mph

 

[455driver]

Not only track workers but passengers waiting on a platform as a class 158 goes thundering through at 90mph

The brown mist of life!

 

[RichmondCommu]

In other news, bears still sh#t in the woods!

I had heard that in Canada they now have their own serviced toilet blocks.
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Not only track workers but passengers waiting on a platform as a class 158 goes thundering through at 90mph

Many years a go (late 1980's) my wife and I were waiting for a train at Juan Les Pins in southern France when my wife was sprayed by a passing train. Not nice, especially when you're heading for a night out! Even the mighty Corail stock didn't have retention tanks!

 

[yorksrob]

Not only track workers but passengers waiting on a platform as a class 158 goes thundering through at 90mph

Well, they've already modified the 158's which now all smell of poo sadly.

Prefer to turn around (as Bonnie Tyler would put it) when a proper train goes through and enjoy a satisfying evacuation on a proper train, rather than these modern hi tec toilets that are good at closing themselves down when you need them most.

 

[O L Leigh]

I hate to bring some science to the party, but you do know that it's actually human urine that is best for tomato plants not excrement. It's the nitrogen and other good stuff it contains, you know. The other thing that I hesitate to point out is that a tomato plant will grow without fertilizer.

As for where the seeds came from, it doesn't necessarily have to have completed a full transit of the human digestive tract. They could just as easily have come from the discarded part of a BLT, especially if they appear in stations alongside platforms. Because no-one ignores the signs and flushes while the train is in a station.

Right...?

A story about nothing. Tomato plants in the four foot proves nothing.

O L Leigh

 

[Wyvern]

On the other hand tomato plants growing in sewage farms is old news.

Also - it's the way tomatoes (and other plants) have evolved to spread themselves.

 

[yorksrob]

On the other hand tomato plants growing in sewage farms is old news.

Also - it's the way tomatoes (and other plants) have evolved to spread themselves.

Indeed. Well done the tomato plant, I say.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

It's time it Ketchup with the rest of the fruit.

 

[MP33]

Much further up the line between Manor Park and Forest Gate there was a sunflower around four foot tall growing up the wall of the cutting.

Where did that come from?

 

[gage75]

Much further up the line between Manor Park and Forest Gate there was a sunflower around four foot tall growing up the wall of the cutting.

Where did that come from?

Sunflower seed perhaps

 

[Wyvern]

It always amazes me the places Buddlieas sprout from. There's one near the top of a seven storey mill near where I live.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Sutton is famous for having mushrooms on the track, is it not? ( I think this ceased to apply after the track was re-laid a couple of years ago though )