I meant the 79 convention. My mistake.

My family and I rode Via's Atlantic to Halifax and back in 2001, and I believe that equipment was still "straight pipe" to the tracks. Am I right? I believe we could hear the outside while flushing. My wife and kids thought I was crazy when I explained why they should not flush the sleeper toilet while the train was in the station.

Although the "nasty stuff" nowadays goes into a holding tank (familiar subject for us RV owners) the shower in Amtrak Superliner sleepers drains right onto the track. It's a strange sensation to be making oneself all clean and fresh for arrival at the destination while the BNSF main line goes zipping by between your toes.

And I have memories of seeing collection buckets at Union Station. My guess was that the employee who dealt with them was the low man on the seniority roster. Those large buckets would probably be a good entry for a "what were these used for?" contest. I wonder if any have been saved and displayed in a rail museum.....

Current regulations allow "gray water" to still be dumped on the ground. Only "brown water" has to go into holding tanks.

I've thought about that! New guy gets to empty the honey pots. That would make them or break them!

Everybody is so squimish these days. People had a different midset back then...they did what needed to be done, they did what they were told, they were happy to have a job and they knew they could be replaced.

Besides...not too terribly long ago the fellows of that era may well have used a chamber pot or out house at home. I suppose we now have a generation that considers the flush toilet as being "the only way" but it was not that long ago. My best friend in 5th grade had an outhouse at home and a chamber pot under the bed for cold night. Same with my ma-in-law...we were not always a nation of nervous-nellies.

T7

I remember being told as a child "dont touch any of those black rocks... that might not be coal" on more than one occasion. I did a report for school many years ago on Pullman sleepers, and recall the "honey pot" method was common practice for cars spending long periods of time at one location.

Although not a sleeper, I do recall hearing a story from an old-timer who worked for the SCL as a brakeman.

This story is in the days of cabooses, though this one was fitted with a holding tank, i found it rather amusing.

A local yardmaster (i forget what division) was known for being rough on the new hires, and would constantly chew them out over the slightest mistakes in procedure, ect. One day a caboose outside the yard office was long over due for have its holding tank flushed, and the new hire was assign the "crappiest job" he'd been given yet. He refused to do it, and went on about his day until the caboose was assigned to a local freight. The yardmaster was out front having a smoke, and asked the new hire if he'd dumped the tank, to which he'd replied he had not. After a brief yelling match, during which the freight picked the caboose up, the new hire climb on board for the run out of town. Somehow, he managed to open the drain right as he passed the yardmaster giving him not only what he requested to be done, but an unexpected shower as well.

People forget too that urine is normally sterile when it exits the body unless a person has a disease-- doesn't mean I want to be sprayed with it at trackside though.

Especially since that's probably not the only thing you're gonna get sprayed with; just 'cause the pipe from the commode goes straight down and/or out the side doesn't mean everything in the pipe goes outside right away, after all...