When & why were the old "hopper" . . . . . . .

[WICT106]

latrines removed, and the current series of WC's installed aboard Amtrak's trains ?

 

[DET63]

latrines removed, and the current series of WC's installed aboard Amtrak's trains ?

The "why" is most likely due to safety and sanitation issues.

From Wikipedia: "The principal drawback [to the hopper toilet] is that it can be considered crude or unhygienic – it litters railway lines and can produce health risks if the train is passing over a public waterway. Passengers may be discouraged from flushing or using toilets while the train is at a station.[1]. Generally the problem is unavoidable, although there are solutions where toilets are automatically locked when the train pulls into a station."

As for the "when," I believe it was in the late '90s or early 2000s. When my son was in the 3rd grade in 2003-04, I rode on a Capitol Corridor Amtrak California train where I was a bit surprised to see that there were no signs in the restrooms telling passengers not to flush the john while the train was in station.

 

[Steve4031]

I don't remember the exact date, but the change happened after a US congressman was fishing under a rr bridge and was nailed when somebody flushed on a passenger train as it crossed the bridge. I am pretty sure this is factual.

 

[tumbleweed]

I don't remember the exact date, but the change happened after a US congressman was fishing under a rr bridge and was nailed when somebody flushed on a passenger train as it crossed the bridge. I am pretty sure this is factual.

Bwahahahah!

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/10/28/man-sucked-into-toil.html

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I miss those old classic "drop" toilets, especially the ones with the foot pedal or slot machine handle flush levers. As a kid, the view down the bowl hole was sometimes as interesting as that out the windows :giggle:

 

[FriskyFL]

I don't remember the exact date, but the change happened after a US congressman was fishing under a rr bridge and was nailed when somebody flushed on a passenger train as it crossed the bridge. I am pretty sure this is factual.

A story so good it HAS to be TRUE! LOL

 

[spacecadet]

I often used to wonder about whether the guys who worked on the tracks in the days of yore would come home at the end of the workday just covered in excrement. How bad was it, really?

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

I don't remember the exact date, but the change happened after a US congressman was fishing under a rr bridge and was nailed when somebody flushed on a passenger train as it crossed the bridge. I am pretty sure this is factual.

A story so good it HAS to be TRUE! LOL

I have read and heard the story a number of times though the years, presented as though if was fact.

Seems I have usually heard that it happened in Florida and that it was Florida officials who were bombed. So...not sure.

 

[Rail Freak]

While waiting to take my 1st Amtrak trip out of St Pete. The Agent there told me about that story. He is the 3rd generation train employee of his family working in Florida. He claimed the incident happened while crossing a bridge around JAX, I believe it was. The politicians were fishing under the bridge & got Chummed as did the fish,LOL!!!

 

[MikefromCrete]

I don't remember the exact date, but the change happened after a US congressman was fishing under a rr bridge and was nailed when somebody flushed on a passenger train as it crossed the bridge. I am pretty sure this is factual.

A story so good it HAS to be TRUE! LOL

That probably means it has to be an urban legend. I've also heard the story of fishermen being hit by flying discharge, but not that they were politicians. Actually, I think the incident that changed the policy was that a maintenance of way crew was hit and the MofW union started legal action.

 

[Chatter163]

I don't remember the exact date, but the change happened after a US congressman was fishing under a rr bridge and was nailed when somebody flushed on a passenger train as it crossed the bridge. I am pretty sure this is factual.

I am pretty sure that this story, oft-repeated with endless variations as to the identity and location of the beneficiary, is anything but factual.

 

[DET63]

I don't see anything about this at either snopes.com or truthorfiction.com. But maybe I simply entered the wrong search terms.

I do remember that there were some complaints in Portland, Oregon, about people underneath the railroad bridge over the Columbia River (or the slough that's part of the Columbia that separates Hayden Island from the mainland) being struck by human waste as passengers sent their waste out. This must have been in the '80s. Oregon threatened to sue Amtrak or something, whereby Amtrak threatened to discontinue passenger train service into or through Oregon (which, I assume, would have ended The Coast Starlight—or given it a routing that only the_traveler could ever have appreciated).

 

[mercedeslove]

I don't remember the exact date, but the change happened after a US congressman was fishing under a rr bridge and was nailed when somebody flushed on a passenger train as it crossed the bridge. I am pretty sure this is factual.

sounds like a pretty crappy situation to be in.