Railway station toilet signs

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Let alone Micturating.

;O)

Martin

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 05/03/2022 23:25:35:

…

"Railway carriage lavatories …

Curious thing about English is I don't believe we have official polite word for the actual defecating apparatus. Instead, we insist on euphemisms:

• Lavatory = 'Washing Place'
• Toilet = 'act of grooming or dressing'
• Gents, Ladies
• Water Closet
• Loo
• Bathroom, Smallest Room, Wash Room, Rest Room, Powder Room, , Little Boy's Room etc.
• Public Convenience

The closest polite word I can think of is Urinal, a special device unsuitable for females. Am I wrong? There are of course lots of rude words that accurately define function but I'm sure they were all coined by vulgar colonials, not in the genteel Mother Country. Native Brits are all taught etiquette at school and have no problem dining formally with the Queen, knowing which is the right cutlery and the rules of precedence that decide where to sit. Not always obvious: the Agha Khan is descended directly from God; an English Duke takes precedence…

Announcing in company one has to use the facilities is also likely to call for a euphemism, we go to: see a man about a dog; turn my bike round; powder my nose; wash my hands; freshen up and 'test the facilities' etc.

It's all very odd.

Dave

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

Dave, can safely affirm that all 365 series DMUs supplied by Leyland Bus were so fitted and the 465 series similar as far back as the early 80s. Was called down to the temple of rail wisdom (St. Peters house, Gower street,Derby) mid to late 80s to advise layout,construction and sample of effluent pipework to fit existing southern network stock and supplied within a week. Although said samples were supplied in the time scale, I had a stand up verbal battle in the Derby boardroom with one of their 'Designers' as the fancy bends shown on their drawings were replaced, due to the time scale, by lobster back bends. Had to drag him down to the shop floor to prove his 'perceived' weld spike blow through welds on the inside of the pipes didn't occur with Argon backing when welding Stainless. Tooling required to achieve ' Arty farty' design was at least 16 weeks away to bend 3 and 4" dia. Stainless 'Tube'.

Had many skirmishes over the years with head office due to some of their straight out of college no manufacturing experience 'Designers'. Egg, pin and Grandfather springs to mind.

Regards Ian.

Edited By Circlip on 06/03/2022 11:02:49

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

Posted by Alan Charleston on 05/03/2022 05:12:38:

Hi br,

I believe the correct wording was:

"Gentlemen will please refrain,

From pulling on the toilet chain,

While the train is standing at the station."

This probably dates it back to the first half of the 20th century at the latest.

Regards,

Alan C.

And sung to the tune of Dvorak's 'Humeresque'

Somewhere I have a book with all the verses in

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 06/03/2022 13:15:16

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember12892]

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[Former MemberParticipant @formermember12892]

[This posting has been removed]

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Circlip on 06/03/2022 11:02:30:

Dave, can safely affirm that all 365 series DMUs supplied by Leyland Bus were so fitted and the 465 series similar as far back as the early 80s. …

I believe you Ian! I was really pointing to the time it took to roll out improvements across the whole of the UK. I used to travel a lot by train between London and Temple Meads and the track at Bristol featured plenty of pre-loved toilet paper, yuk!

I almost always went by IC125 and suspect they didn't dump sewage. But there was plenty of older rolling-stock in use, especially going North – South. It disappeared slowly. Not sure how long it took Southern Region to modernise, but I was startled by the poor state of their antique rolling-stock on a trip to Chatham : they appeared to be about 50 years behind Western Region! And Western Region weren't perfect, I remember coming home in a train put together after a breakdown. Worn-out carriages where most of the lights and the heating were broken pulled by an ordinary diesel, max speed about 40mph, probably because they didn't trust the brakes!

My friends who worked for the GPO had similar stories: fixing everything from state of the art electronic telephone exchanges to obsolete stuff installed in the 1930s! Huge variations. For about 15 years some engineers had to cope with gear so modern they didn't understand it and gear so old there were no spares or replacements. Others saw a sensible series of upgrades. Taken as a whole, amazing it worked. Sadly, most engineers were made redundant as the system became thoroughly modernised.

I think mixing old and new was true of many organisations. "Squeezing the assets" featured much in my computer career because paying people to expensively maintain old junk came from a different budget. Money for new equipment was first to be cut when times were hard, even though it wasted money in the end. Same reason that had me pouring money into unreliable old bangers rather than saving for a new one: I couldn't raise the capital.

Dave

[GeorgineerParticipant @georgineer]

Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 05/03/2022 23:25:35:

As a native of Emsworth I became quite accustomed to using the local station and the EMUs on the former SR line (Southampton – Brighton) . Though more than 60 years later I am pretty sure it was on those trains that this sign used to puzzle me:

"Gentlemen Adjust Your Dress Before Leaving The Lavatory"

Certainly that's the exhortation cast into the urinal at one of the stations on the Watercress Line.

George (resident of Emsworth from 1966 to 1978)

[Gary WoodingParticipant @garywooding25363]

Any comments on this sign photographed at the York Railway Museum some years ago?

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

One certainly would not want a fishporter in one's closet.

[KEITH BEAUMONTParticipant @keithbeaumont45476]

This is a photo of a wall in the restored London Sewer pumping station. No shortage of words here!

[Tim StevensParticipant @timstevens64731]

In case anyone thinks (as hinted above) that vulgar colonials are responsible for rude words, they need to read some Chaucer. This was written before there were colonies for colonials to come from.

I do not understand why – in an age where superstition is widely regarded as silly nonsense, (and prohibited by some religions) there is still superstition regarding words for every-day activities and the body parts involved. The result is, of course, that any child who is deprived of the opportunity to know the words is unable to explain that he (she) needs to empty bladder or bowels, and the sky falls in on the poor sod.

Cheers, Tim

[David AmbroseParticipant @davidambrose86182]

This was in Greenwich Park.

[David AmbroseParticipant @davidambrose86182]

Sorry about previous missing photo, THIS was in Greenwich Park

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

Posted by Hopper on 06/03/2022 00:23:28:

When i was a kid, the railway platforms all had prominent signs saying "No Expectorating".

I doubt that any potential expectorators of the 1960s had a clue what it meant. Must have been a leftover from an age too genteel to mention the word "spitting" in front of ladies.

..or perhaps to differentiate between 'No Hawking'..

From Verse and Worse:

There was a young man from Darjeeling
Who was travelling from London to Ealing
It said on the door
Please don't spit on the floor
So he carefully spat on the ceiling

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Seen on the wall of a convenience in Keighley many moons ago:

One would think with all this wit

that Shakespeare had been here to scratch his elbow

[Anonymous]

Where'd br go?

[James AlfordParticipant @jamesalford67616]

In the 80s, there was a sign in a toilet somewhere on the south coast that read something along the lines of: "To avoid consumption, please do not spit." This conjured up all sorts of disturbing images until I learnt that consumption was another word for tuberculosis.

James.

[Jon LawesParticipant @jonlawes51698]

Posted by Peter Greene 🇨🇦 on 13/03/2022 19:32:35:

Where'd br go?

Forced off by some heartless responses I suspect. Some people forget that for many forums like these are a lifeline. More tolerance required by some people.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

The mural thesaurus Keith Beaumont shows us hold at least one naval example.

I don't know if merchant-marine as well but in the Royal Navy the toilets on ships are always referred to as "The Heads".

I don't know the etymology but it might refer to the placing of that which is necessary in the shallow well-deck ahead of the fo'c's'le (forecastle), the forward superstructure which provided over centuries of sail-power, the ordinary seamen's accommodation.

I believe the heads on such ships were also called "seats of ease", c.f. "easement" in Keith's photograph.

The waterfront-sited Glasgow Museum of Transport is home to one of the last trading fully-rigged sailing ships, under restoration following her rescue from dereliction in a Spanish port. I recall a sign in the reconstructed Captain's Cabin telling visitors not to use the toilet! It is part of the overall exhibit, not fully plumbed in.

(I am a bit hazy on the ship's history – if so I'm sure someone will correct me!)

[KEITH BEAUMONTParticipant @keithbeaumont45476]

I have always understood that Heads was an abreviation of Bulkhead, as this structure was a convenient wall against which to place a Loo.

Keith

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by KEITH BEAUMONT on 14/03/2022 10:51:03:

I have always understood that Heads was an abreviation of Bulkhead, as this structure was a convenient wall against which to place a Loo.

Keith

Not according to Admiral Smyth's Sailor's 1867 Word Book. The word 'head' has many nautical 'at the front or top' meanings, and 'bows' is one of them. In a wooden sailing ship, 'that part of each side of the stem outside the bows proper which is appropriated to the use of the sailors for wringing wet swabs, or any wet jobs, for no wet is permitted inboard once the decks are dried.' I think 'wet jobs' is yet another lavatorial euphemism!

Doing one's business in rough weather whilst clinging to this bowsprit structure doesn't bear thinking about!

Dave

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 14/03/2022 11:24:27:

Posted by KEITH BEAUMONT on 14/03/2022 10:51:03:

I have always understood that Heads was an abreviation of Bulkhead, as this structure was a convenient wall against which to place a Loo.

Keith

Not according to Admiral Smyth's Sailor's 1867 Word Book. The word 'head' has many nautical 'at the front or top' meanings, and 'bows' is one of them. In a wooden sailing ship, 'that part of each side of the stem outside the bows proper which is appropriated to the use of the sailors for wringing wet swabs, or any wet jobs, for no wet is permitted inboard once the decks are dried.' I think 'wet jobs' is yet another lavatorial euphemism!

Doing one's business in rough weather whilst clinging to this bowsprit structure doesn't bear thinking about!

Dave

At the head of the ship, right next to the figurehead. And a charmer she looks too.

I suppose on a sailing ship, the wind would mostly be coming from behind, blowing from the blunt end to the pointy end, so probably was best that all "wet jobs" were done under the watchful (single) eye of the figurehead.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Hopper on 14/03/2022 11:33:11:

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 14/03/2022 11:24:27:

Posted by KEITH BEAUMONT on 14/03/2022 10:51:03:

I have always understood that Heads was an abreviation of Bulkhead, as this structure was a convenient wall against which to place a Loo.

Keith

…

At the head of the ship, right next to the figurehead.

…

Now we've sorted out the heads, any suggestions as to what the Poop Deck was for?

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 15/03/2022 10:52:29:

Posted by Hopper on 14/03/2022 11:33:11:

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 14/03/2022 11:24:27:

Posted by KEITH BEAUMONT on 14/03/2022 10:51:03:

I have always understood that Heads was an abreviation of Bulkhead, as this structure was a convenient wall against which to place a Loo.

Keith

…

At the head of the ship, right next to the figurehead.

…

Now we've sorted out the heads, any suggestions as to what the Poop Deck was for?

Checkmate.

[Author]

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