Toilets on trains

[apricot]

I know this seems a very base question but what happens when you flush the toilet on a train?

[PaulB]

Yeah and also on an plane? Great question :o)

[andy hughes]

On a train, waste simply falls from a pipe onto the track, where the elements disperse it over time, hence the request not to flush the toilet in a station. On a plane, water from the basin is released into the air, where it vapourises instantly, but waste from the toilet is stored in a tank, and disposed of when the aircraft lands.

[Bob...]

I would have thought it would only vaporises at low level flight but freeze at high altitude and the airlines was not allowed to empty their tanks over land. Hence the instances of 'blue ice'

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2003/Febr
uary/12/local/stories/02local.htm

[Bob...]

I heard the excuses for late trains being put down to leafs on the line but never turds on the track!

[PaulB]

LMAO Bob :o)

[Dacetine]

My mate used to work on the railway testing lines. He said all the workmen turn away when a train goes past to avoid receiving a faceful of faeces... nice job.

[sddsddean]

I think I'm right in saying that trains also have holding tanks now and have done for several years. True, they used to empty straight onto the track, but what with all the Health and Safety regs etc, this is no longer the case.

[Gef]

sdds is absolutely correct - trains have holding tanks although there might still be some very old rolling stock in use which don't. I can't find the link at the moment but some modern trains even recycle the water part - but not for drinking!

[chrisbailey]

Gef is right - the waste is stored in large tanks containing chemicals which break down and disinfect the waste. The water / chemicals in this tank are pumped back into the toilet when you flush. Basically, you flush your waste away with somebody elses!

[Dave04]

On a recent trip to Poland it was quite obvious what happened what happened to the waste - no need to flush, it was just ground below the toilet.

[darth vader]

Not wishing to pooh-pooh any answers (sorree!) but i went and asked my mate who is a conductor on the trains and he verified that most trains do indeed simply eject the waste onto the track and only a few of the newer types actually hold and store the waste, but the general pop. of trains do eject them still.

[Ninereeds]

on the aeroplane side of this, a woman walking her dog in some god foresaken country was killed by a bolt a yellowy green ice which fell from the sky and impaled her straight to the ground. You can guess why its yellowy green eh? this is why the aeroplanes are now only allowed to dump the waste products of the passengers in the sea and now over countries, however darkly funny it is to see someone impaled on ****.

[Snerty2]

Urban legend - the "impaled to the ground" story (and picture) is a fabrication.