Yesterday, I replaced the fill valve on a Toto toilet in our house with a Korky model. During the repair, I caught myself reminiscing about a low-tech toilet. At a previous job, there were commodes that required no maintenance whatsoever.
About ten years ago, I worked as a train and engine employee for Norfolk Southern. Their older locomotives did not have flush toilets. The toilets utilized what is known as a dry hopper system. Here’s how the system worked:
Use a plastic bag to line the bucket.
Fold down the seat over the bucket.
Do your business.
Remove and seal soiled bag.
Dispose of bag properly.
Oftentimes, on trains with multiple locomotives, whoever had to go number two would walk back to a trailing unit so as to not stink up the cab in the lead engine. Walking along the catwalk of a locomotive at track speed with the urge to go to the bathroom is quite an experience.
Does NS still have any old engines without flush toilets? What do you think about the dry hopper system?
A lot of bluegrass fans look down on modern country music. When it comes to country, I mainly like classic country but there are still some good new songs that come out on occasion.
I’m adding a new link to the Low-Tech Blogs list on this site. Low-tech means different things for different people. I think of steam trains, bluegrass music, and old-fashioned stuff. Just because some technology is newer, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better. Just for one example, I think having a conversation in person beats texting through dinner.
Anyway, the LOWTECH blog features traditional hot rods and customs online.
I never drove a hot rod, but I definitely appreciated driving some classics. I drove a ‘64 Ford Falcon for years, as well as a ‘71 Ford F-100. The stock V8 in the three speed F-100 had some get-up-and-go.
Last year I recommended real books over eBooks. I still have no plans at this time to buy an eBook reader despite the price of Amazon’s Kindle going way down.
Despite my preference for real printed books, it does look like eBooks are here to stay. Sales have dramatically increased, but there are some misleading headlines out there such as this one: Amazon e-book sales overtake print for first time.
In fact, Amazon eBook sales overtook hardcover books, but softcover books still greatly outsell eBooks.
For those that read a lot of books and like reading screens, then the Kindle is definitely a better deal today than it was last year…
Britany Cofer reports for Chattanooga’s TimesFreePress.com:
Southern Railway 630, built in 1904 and later donated to TVRM by Southern Railway, now Norfolk Southern, has been in the TVRM shop for the past six years undergoing an extensive rehabilitation and refurbishing process. Work on the train should be complete in the next couple months, Andrews said, and the locomotive is slated to be the first to run in the 21st Century Steam program.
After work is finished on the 630 train, Southern Railway 4501 — the largest of the three locomotives, with 63-inch driving wheels — will go in the shop and should be ready to run within a year.
I have some old tape recordings of Southern 630 and 4501 doubleheading out of Alexandria in the 1970s. I’ll try to post them sometime.
going way down.
