And to continue the topic:

http://www.bestrestroom.com/us/

Yes, there's a Canadian version, too.

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum is beginning a project this spring to replace two older non-ADA restrooms with a modern compliant facility. (We do have nice compliant restrooms in the Visitor Center, but those being replaced are much closer to the trolley loading platform, vending machines, etc.) This facility will also include some private facilities for members only, including showers and lockers. Yes, keep the public first in mind, but don't forget your volunteers when planning facilities improvements.

Over 1/2 million dollars for restrooms? Good grief!

The NH&I recently opened expansive new ladies and gentlemen's rest rooms at their New Hope station and the response from the riding public has been terrific.

They went to substantial lengths both financially and in doing a lot of design and materials research to end up with what must be the finest ( and fanciest!) restrooms in all of tourist railroading!! The ladies room in particular is worthy of any 5 star hotel!!

No longer will the North Pole Express have to be held waiting for ladies in line for the old one holer as the new facility can accomodate 6 at a time!!

Progress!!!

Ross Rowland

RMNE has had our "Comfort Coach" in operation since 2004; there was an RyPN "Brief" about it, but I don't see a way to access those anymore.

Looks like a grounded old wood coach/combine, has three sinks and 6 toilets for women's side, two sinks and 2 each toilets and urinals on men's side. Baby changing table in each. After 6 years, we still get compliments. And, they accomodated our DOWT crowds for two years, without supplemental porta-potties.

Cost us $110,000 to have a contractor build it, in 2004; our costs in Connecticut are among the highest in the nation. Can't imagine what sort of Taj Mahal of Toilets you will gget for $500K....

Howard P.

Well, I guess it could be worse. WSDOT (Washington DOT) just signed an $800,000 contract to build an 1,100 SF restroom facility, tear down the old one and repave a parking lot. Gotta love state projects...

http://www.tricitiesbusinessnews.com/20 ... -makeover/

No wonder I can't afford the taxes in this states. (Sales tax of 9.5 percent!)

Well Bob, I agree the sales tax rates are high (ours is 8.5% here) but we don't have state income tax, at least not yet!

Our $600,000 ball park for restrooms is currently sized for 16 - 18 stalls total, related walkways with lighting, a sewer lift station, and all finishes of equal quality to the recent depot project. It works out to around $500 per square foot and according the architect is the going rate for commercial-grade restrooms.

I still maintain it is outrageous, but it is important.

--Richard

The Ladies Rooms simply need to be clean and modern looking, with seemingly new interior trim (i.e. little evidence of age). "well worn classic" doesn't cut it. They don't have to be $600,000. The building can be a tired old thing so long as the restrooms are tip-top.

According to this article at Forbes.com, when you add up all the numbers, we have the 8th highest taxes in the nation. That's not a good "top ten" list to be in...

http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/30/highes ... taxes.html



I agree with you on both counts, outrageous and important.

Can we please stay on topic?

There are other more appropriate forums to complain about taxes.

Thanks.

Taxes are on topic. Where do you think the contractors that build your building get the money to pay their taxes? If you think they're not included as part of the construction cost, you're fooling yourself. We don't operate in a vacuum.

The high cost of living here in Washington state is the reason why a restroom building that might cost $400,000 in the Midwest costs $600,000 here. It's why Richard has the challenge of explaining to folks that yes, he really does need more than 1/2 million for something most folks never even think about.

Agreed on the need for clean restrooms. This stuff is really important and unfortunately, often overlooked. Even "simple, clean and functional" goes along way, such as the all volunteer WK&S. As mentioned, RMNE's comfort coach is one to aspire to. Other nice places: Wilmington & Western and the Valley Railroad. I am, of course skipping over the "big budget" museums.

Haven't been to New Hope to see there's, although ANYTHING has to be an improvement on what they had before. They were the worst of the worst in my opinion. Although there's nothing particularly aweful about them, Strasburg's restrooms do not reflect the top notch nature of the rest of their facility.

On to another point. How many places out there have outside food vendors? Some of the worst meals I've ever had have been at various tourist railroads. Doesn't have to be gormet stuff, as the hot dogs at the WK&S, served with Coke in a real glass bottle, is a pleasant treat. I'm of the opinion that if it can't be done right, food service is better left out of the equation.

Dave Crosby

OERM recently converted the building that had been the diesel powerhouse (a relic of the bad old days of using a Cummins-GE 150 kw generator for trolley power before the rotary converter went on-line) to "his 'n hers" restrooms with ground level access. It even has some vintage signs that appear to be relics of the days when "gas stations" were real "service stations". You know your museum has been around for a long time when----you find an "adaptive re-use" for a building that was built in the 1960s

Somebody mentioned a crew area as part of the restroom projects. That is a great suggestion, and one that I haven't heard a lot about.

Having a nice locker room and showers for your crew could be quite an enticement for everyone, especially volunteers. Often crews drive a long distance to get to the railroad, and heading home all dirty and greasy isn't very appealing, especially if you've got a nice car you don't want to ruin.

Having a place to clean up would be a great option.

Hope you made the most of that! Adaptive re-use in Calfornia is definitely the in thing at the moment. I'm guessing you could put a nice spin on that and get some great PR from it...