Coach restrooms

[Oreius]

You know, someone really trashed one of the Keystone bathrooms when I rode this evening!! The commode was plugged up and there were paper towels all over the floor!! For crying out loud!

 

[Oreius]

Any time I go to use the toilet, I always bring spray Lysol and 2 paper towels to clean the toilet seat (top and underneath) because so many men pee on them cuz they are too lazy to lift the seat

I carry a pack of Clorox wipes with me in my carryon just in case I ever need to “sit there” in an airport or public bathroom as well.

“If you sprinkle when you tinkle, please be a sweetie and wipe the seatie!”

 

[alanh]

As some who has, in my long and varied career, been responsible for cleaning restrooms... Any clean restroom is because it's being aggressively cleaned. Like, once an hour or more for heavy use. It has nothing to do with where it is or who uses it. The only reason high end places have clean restrooms is because they do all that cleaning.

 

[susanlindsey]

Do you think it's OK to use my own cleaning stuff like Lysol wipes or air freshener spray like Ozium in the coach restroom for my own comfort?

 

[pennyk]

Do you think it's OK to use my own cleaning stuff like Lysol wipes or air freshener spray like Ozium in the coach restroom for my own comfort?

I think using wipes is a better policy than spray since many people are allergic to air freshener, especially febreze (including me). I think avoiding anything with a fragrance is a good idea if you wish you be considerate to your fellow passengers who may have asthma and/or allergies.

 

[dunktender]

Rode SWC to CHI last week and all of the restrooms in my coach had a can of foaming spray cleaner in them. It was a good thing too because the other coach had no restrooms working even though maintenance looked at them at crew stops.

 

[zephyr17]

It was a good thing too because the other coach had no restrooms working even though maintenance looked at them at crew stops.

They really don't have anyone who can fix toilets outside the terminals. I have never seen a toilet failure they were able to fix enroute.

 

[susanlindsey]

Number 4 Southwest Chief 4/16-4/18. Two coach cars, #11 and #12. Within hours the toilets in #12 were all clogged and eventually flooded out into the hallway and into the luggage area where some suitcases were on the floor. I was told the issue would have to wait until Albuquerque and duct tape was placed over all the doors. Passengers were directed to use the bathrooms in #11. For two days the accessible bathroom was locked leaving four restrooms for two cars. Two of those doors didn't close or latch properly. It appeared that an attendant had been in the bathroom because there was replacement toilet paper and paper towels and a large trash bag was tied to the grab bar in the accessible bathroom because the trash receptacles were overflowing onto the floor. I tried to clean up after myself but the sheer volume of use was overwhelming.

 

[Eric in East County]

Number 4 Southwest Chief 4/16-4/18. Two coach cars, #11 and #12. Within hours the toilets in #12 were all clogged and eventually flooded out into the hallway and into the luggage area where some suitcases were on the floor. I was told the issue would have to wait until Albuquerque and duct tape was placed over all the doors. Passengers were directed to use the bathrooms in #11. For two days the accessible bathroom was locked leaving four restrooms for two cars. Two of those doors didn't close or latch properly. It appeared that an attendant had been in the bathroom because there was replacement toilet paper and paper towels and a large trash bag was tied to the grab bar in the accessible bathroom because the trash receptacles were overflowing onto the floor. I tried to clean up after myself but the sheer volume of use was overwhelming.

What would happen if the toilets in both coaches became clogged? Would coach passengers be allowed to use the toilets in the sleepers? Would the coaches be removed from the train and all coach passengers put up in hotels until more coaches could be ordered in?

 

[Maglev]

They really don't have anyone who can fix toilets outside the terminals. I have never seen a toilet failure they were able to fix enroute.

I was on a Coast Starlight Seattle to Los Angeles where our sleeper had non-functioning toilets that were fixed in Oakland.

 

[Rasputin]

I was on a Coast Starlight Seattle to Los Angeles where our sleeper had non-functioning toilets that were fixed in Oakland.

I was on the Southwest Chief around 2012 when the toilets in our sleeper stopped working for much of the day. I never found out what the problem was (You never do, usually.) Then later in the day they were fixed en route and working.

A few years later I was on the Texas Eagle sleeper at the rear of the Sunset when the toilets stopped working in that car. It turns out the car ran out of water because it had not been filled in LA. A lady in the shower at the time was not pleased. During the stop at El Paso, the tank was filled and all was fine after that (and I guess the lady was able to rinse off.)

I am sorry that Susanlindsey encountered such poor service on her trip but appreciate her candid report.

 

[zephyr17]

NnI was on a Coast Starlight Seattle to Los Angeles where our sleeper had non-functioning toilets that were fixed in Oakland.

That's good, but bear in mind Oakland is a terminal, just not the Starlight's. The Oakland Coach Yard provides terminal services for the Capitol Corridor, the San Joaquins, and, importantly, the California Zephyr, another Superliner. They have the mechanical staff and the parts. Most other long distance trains do not pass a such a full maintenance base enroute.

 

[OBS]

What would happen if the toilets in both coaches became clogged? Would coach passengers be allowed to use the toilets in the sleepers? Would the coaches be removed from the train and all coach passengers put up in hotels until more coaches could be ordered in?

The coaches would not be removed from the train. Restrooms in the lounge and sleeper would be used. Worst case scenario, some passengers (like those boarding later in trip) may be bussed instead.

 

[Eric in East County]

During the summer of 2016, we were traveling on SWC No. 3 in Bedroom A, Sleeping Car 32002.

Just outside of Chicago we discovered that our toilet wouldn’t flush. We reported this to our SCA Cynthia, and she reset the breaker for the pump. Even after several tries at resetting the breaker, our toilet still wouldn’t flush. Nor would any of the other toilets in our sleeping car flush. An announcement was made to advise the other passengers of this problem, which would be fixed during the service stop in Kansas City. In the meantime, we had to use the restrooms in the adjoining cars.

By the next morning, our toilet was working again. Cynthia later told us that the problem had “fixed itself” the previous evening and that an announcement had been made. (We had probably been asleep by then.)

 

[Bob Dylan]

The coaches would not be removed from the train. Restrooms in the lounge and sleeper would be used. Worst case scenario, some passengers (like those boarding later in trip) may be bussed instead.

Except on the Cap and Eaglette, where there is No Lounge and only 1 Sleeper in the consist.

 

[Eric in East County]

Contrast this with how things were on Amtrak trains back in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. (I recall reading a post that a HAZMAT crew was brought aboard after a coach passenger began exhibiting signs of having COVID.)

 

[stevie]

I was on a Coast Starlight Seattle to Los Angeles where our sleeper had non-functioning toilets that were fixed in Oakland.

So you had no functioning toilets in your car all the way from Seattle to Oakland? What about the sinks and shower?

Sure, things happen, and it's not too much trouble to use the facilities in an adjacent car, especially if one doesn't have mobility issues. But if all of these were inoperable, I'd be pretty upset if I booked a Bedroom.

By the next morning, our toilet was working again. Cynthia later told us that the problem had “fixed itself” the previous evening and that an announcement had been made. (We had probably been asleep by then.)

It "fixed itself"? I wonder what the real problem was, and how it can be prevented or more quickly resolved...

 

[Maglev]

So you had no functioning toilets in your car all the way from Seattle to Oakland? What about the sinks and shower?

The toilets had stopped working that morning. I do not remember the status of the sinks and showers.

You also asked how a problem could fix itself. It could have been a wad of toilet paper clogging the system that slowly dissolved.

 

[Qapla]

It could have been a wad of toilet paper clogging the system

That's what I was thinking - maybe the shaking, swaying and thumping finally dislodged it ... or several flush attempts finally sent it on.

Back in 2011 on one of the Silver's from Fl to NJ riding in coach we had one of the rooms "tied up" for about 30 minutes. When the guy finally came out the room was dripping wet. He had taken a bath/shower/or whatever you want to call it and came out with his hair all wet and left the room in a total mess. He got off at the next stop. Seems he timed it so he was freshly washed just in time to exit the train.

 

[Asher]

The Hopper toilet solved most problems In the United States, Amtrak phased out its use of these toilets in the 1980s after waste from a Silver Meteor-train crossing the St. Johns River in Florida, between Palatka and DeLand, landed on a fisherman who filed a lawsuit.[2]

 

[Maglev]

When I rode the Super Continental from Montreal to Vancouver in 1975, my brothers and I spent a whole day leaning out an open upper Dutch door. We kept wondering where all the water on our faces was coming from (it was from the toilets). Dad must have known what was going on, but thought a few germs were worth the experience.

 

[zephyr17]

When I rode the Super Continental from Montreal to Vancouver in 1975, my brothers and I spent a whole day leaning out an open upper Dutch door. We kept wondering where all the water on our faces was coming from (it was from the toilets). Dad must have known what was going on, but thought a few germs were worth the experience.

Yeah, I remember as a teenager hanging out the Dutch door on an SP operated excursion train through the Antelope Valley, the western edge of the Mojave Desert. I was wondering where the water was coming from. As a 13 year old, I never figured it out at the time.

 

[Hound6827]

Do you think it's OK to use my own cleaning stuff like Lysol wipes or air freshener spray like Ozium in the coach restroom for my own comfort?

Is this question serious ? Who cares do it.

 

[susanlindsey]

Is this question serious ? Who cares do it.

Absolutely serious. I wouldn't want to cause an acute attack in someone with asthma or reactive airway. I try not to "just do it" without considering the possible consequences.

 

[flitcraft]

I saw a suggestion for dealing with smelly public toilets, though I haven't tried it. Take one of the disposable masks and put a small drop of a pleasant essential oil on the inside. Voila--your own private air freshener! It would probably work with perfume, too--but a little dab'll do you.