Mk1 toilets and signs stating "do not flush in stations"

[ScotsRail]

I remember waiting for a train at Rochdale several decades ago and seeing the rather large pile of poo in the middle of the tracks with one particular whole typical looking jobby seemingly staring back at me and from that moment on I decided never to flush the toilet in the station ever again.

 

[Sun Chariot]

I remember waiting for a train at Rochdale several decades ago and seeing the rather large pile of poo in the middle of the tracks with one particular whole typical looking jobby seemingly staring back at me and from that moment on I decided never to flush the toilet in the station ever again.

Having worked in Castleton and socialised occasionally in Rochdale - 20 years ago - I'd wager it came from someone who was walking back from the kebab shop and suddenly had a "pusher"...

 

[contrex]

one particular whole typical looking jobby seemingly staring back at me

Not just the void, then, that looks back at you?

 

[Rescars]

In the light of these lurid descriptions, perhaps the term "cess" would be better applied to the "four-foot" rather than to the part of the formation outside the running rails!

 

[contrex]

Europeans travelling to China are usually advised not to eat salads or raw vegetables, as human waste is in widespread use as a fertiliser.

In the 1970s, a friend was unpleasantly intrigued to see, in India, pigs feeding on human excrement in an open sewer. Their owner was friendly, and my pal asked him if the meat would be eaten by humans. 'Oh no!' said the man, 'they are slaughtered and fed to other pigs, and those are eaten by people!'.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

There was a certain graffiti vandal who used to add his own message onto the standard BR "do not flush in stations notice" - except at Esher

Presumably not a fan of that pleasant suburb.

 

[michaelh]

I'm guessing they weren't harvested !

Why not? Have you never seen farmers muck spreading?

 

[contrex]

Why not? Have you never seen farmers muck spreading?

I was narrowly missed by a hail of flying stones once that had been thrown violently by a mechanical muck-spreader towed by a tractor. The muck had not been sufficiently screened for stones, rocks, etc.

 

[norbitonflyer]

It was discovered during testing in the tunnels south of Grantham, and it did NOT require a second train on the other track either!!

"Tunnels"? South of Grantham the first tunnel is Stoke, but there isn't another until Welwyn.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

"Tunnels"? South of Grantham the first tunnel is Stoke, but there isn't another until Welwyn.

It's Stoke Tunnel I'm referring to; not sure where the extra "s" came from!!!

 

[AY1975]

IIRC every Mark 1 sleeper compartment was fitted with an integrated "gozunder" below the handbasin

They were indeed, although I suspect that many passengers had no idea that it was there especially in their last few years of service. I believe that most of the Mark 1s' forerunners had that too, as did many older sleeping cars in mainland Europe.

Unfortunately that facility was omitted from the Mark 3s, presumably because it was deemed unhygienic by the 1980s. If the Mark 3s had had it, they would either still have needed the troughs (thus defeating part of the object of having retention tank toilets, which was to eliminate the need for the troughs) or each compartment washbasin would also have needed a retention tank or some kind of water filtering system.