Canadian Railroads > CN Outhouse

Against all good judgment, I opened the door.
It's pristine.

Anyone want to guess where?

Loleta Fernbridge

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Somewhere on the Fart Nelson sub ???   Doug

Dawson Creek, BC near the end of the former NAR. 

Rob Smith
Hamilton, ON

DundasMP23 Wrote:
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> Dawson Creek, BC near the end of the former NAR. 

Correct! Now does anyone know why it's here? I mean I know what it's for, but I've never seen a railroad outhouse before, and someone put a load of effort into painting it.

- L.F.

Fire hydrant or water filler.

Mike Root
Madras, OR

I prefer CN's outhouses painted in the classic olive green and black with maple leaf logo. ;-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/16 03:59 by JPB.

Toronto Union Station.

Back in the days when track workers lived in trackside dwellings, and patrolled a "section" of track,  they had a turnaround location which marked the end of "their" section and transition to an adjacent track workers territory.  Usually, there was a motor car take off, and a shelter of some kind. Sometimes, when the section gang was waiting for track and time, they set about "improving" the facilities at the turnaround point, which often included building an outhouse.  On the CP at Grindrod BC, the section crew built a fancy cedar shake covered outhouse, with the shakes supplied by an adjacent mill.  At Taft BC, there was an heated outhouse using electricity from a nearby signal bungalow.

​With the advent of hi-rail trucks and the abolishment of traditional sections, these improved facilities fell into disuse.

That's very interesting thanks for the explanation.
- L.F.

eminence_grise Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Back in the days when track workers lived in
> trackside dwellings, and patrolled a "section" of
> track,  they had a turnaround location which
> marked the end of "their" section and transition
> to an adjacent track workers territory.  Usually,
> there was a motor car take off, and a shelter of
> some kind. Sometimes, when the section gang was
> waiting for track and time, they set about
> "improving" the facilities at the turnaround
> point, which often included building an
> outhouse.  On the CP at Grindrod BC, the section
> crew built a fancy cedar shake covered outhouse,
> with the shakes supplied by an adjacent mill.  At
> Taft BC, there was an heated outhouse using
> electricity from a nearby signal bungalow.
>
> ​With the advent of hi-rail trucks and the
> abolishment of traditional sections, these
> improved facilities fell into disuse.

When I worked for CN in 1978 they also had heated shacks by the switches on sidings.I believe at that time that CN had a spring switch at one end of CTC sidings across Saskatchewan. CJ

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