I caught wind of that also. It didn’t smell right. (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Nice idea. I hope it gets around. An invite is offered for it to visit Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, but please wait until Spring 2018…
Fred Mills(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
It was here for the Sept and Oct Ops sessions… However, don’t think it ever got into any pictures… It’s traveling to the Jackson & Burke RR, last I saw it…
The regional club always have a impressive layout at SUPERTRAIN of which there are usually at least a couple modules where it would fit in … upcoming april 14-15 '18 
I offer to be recipient/janitor/caretaker if it was to make it up here for that event (potential 11k+ viewers) !
doug c
It arrived on the Jackson and Burke. Hard to take a great picture as due to the base size it really doesn’t fit into the ground. But, what a VERY impressive model.
I charged it up and everything works perfectly. The documentation that comes with it is truly inspired. It also comes with a charger and logbook.
Now I’m thinking that maybe I need a few of these (without the electronics or base) for outdoor installation. Maybe some sort of kit? Hmmm…there’s just no place for my little folks to go… 
I do believe I got this at the tail end of operations season, but maybe I’ll bring it to York to give to the next person in line.
Thanks, Bob. A very nice model, very well done.
OK. So, this got me to thinking. I first poo-poohed this idea, but then the smell just got me to thinking. 
Where were outhouses placed downtown? No problem placing an outhouse near a residence, but what about a business? For some reason, nobody ever discusses this, or even shows it in pictures. Yet, I suspect that those people had to go at times where they were not home… Or, could they just hold it better than modern folks? 
Bruce,
They were usually out around the back.
Joe Zullo said:
Bruce,
They were usually out around the back.
Ah yes…the old “Back House”. (A bit before my time) Hmm…maybe a “double” would be in order for my town…
Well…crap (so to speak). Don’t need a double post!!!
Bruce, no they were downtown. Its something that isn’t much discussed among “civilized” people. But there was an article linked here on LSC (I forget what thread it was in), about some archeologists digging up the site of an outhouse behind a brothel in a major city. The outhouse was also used to dispose of items such as small medicine bottles and broken combs. Its was interesting, even though I am not into that shi stuff.
David Maynard said:
Bruce, no they were downtown. Its something that isn’t much discussed among “civilized” people. But there was an article linked here on LSC (I forget what thread it was in), about some archeologists digging up the site of an outhouse behind a brothel in a major city. The outhouse was also used to dispose of items such as small medicine bottles and broken combs. Its was interesting, even though I am not into that shi stuff.
Hehe. I suspect that’s where all those leg lamps ended up?
Fortunately, I don’t think of LSC as being too civilized, but hopefully we can make it through this discussion without all the usual crap. I need to talk with my Dad again and ask him. (He was born in 1926, and does recall those days)
Not to be disrespectful, but since Bob Hyman built that fine model, has anyone heard from him lately? (I sure didn’t want to state “speaking of outhouses, has anyone heard from Bob Hyman lately?”)
I thought he was going to be at Andy’s BS ops, but did not get to see him. Hope he’s OK.
Regarding placement, many towns were designed with alleys for garages and trash pick up.
The ‘facilities’ were in between, remember new holes had to be dug and the building moved over it.(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-sealed.gif)
well, firshand (not to mention other parts) i remember the installations of my grandparents.
they lived in a four or five storey apartment building. built in the 1890ies. ceilings over four yards high coal stoves in most rooms, bathtub in the kitchen, wash-stands in the sleeping rooms( on legs, a bowl, a picher and a towel) in winter one did break the ice in the bowl for washing…
the “inhouse” room was empty, save for a wooden “box” from wall to wall. on top in the middle it had a round hole with a wooden lid. near the floor stuck a pedal out of the “box”, similar to those on modern household thrash bins. below the round hole was a kind of enamel bucket, but the bottom could be opened with the pedal. on the box, beside the hole lay yesterday’s newspapers. the small adds section cut in “handy” pieces. the pages with pics (more ink!) were left entire for doing some origamy…
making some kind of paperbag one could evade smearing the bucket. (tab water was expensive in those times)
working the pedal, the bomb fell down some kind of “chimney” into the public sewage.
i have seen older city houses, that had a similar system, but consisting of wooden leanto structures (hangto?) with wooden “chimneys” (one old castle, we visited had such a “hang to” on the outer wall, without any channeling. the wall looked shitty in that section.)
in the worker parts of the city, the older buildings were built directly to the sidewalk. in the enclosed yards each block had, were chicken and rabbit sheds and oldfashioned outhouses. wastewater went right out of the windows. (in the 1950ies still!)
so i would suppose, that any pre WW2 layout should have as much outhouses as other buildings.
when my wife and i built up our ranch, during the first five years we used an outhouse too. that’s not as bad, as one would think. since the avayability of toilet paper and keeping in mind the time factor …
John Caughey said:
Regarding placement, many towns were designed with alleys for garages and trash pick up.
The ‘facilities’ were in between, remember new holes had to be dug and the building moved over it.(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-sealed.gif)
Sometimes new holes were dug from time to time, and the building moved. But in other situations, the hole would be emptied out and the building put back in its original location. The folks who cleaned out the holes for outhouses were called “Honey dippers”. I guess that was to make the job sound better then calling them shi crap diggers.
Korm,
I think this is the castle you were thinking of.
(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castle_of_Chillon_N.jpg#/media/File:Castle_of_Chillon_N.jpg)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castle_of_Chillon_N.jpg#/media/File:Castle_of_Chillon_N.jpg
s
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Castle_of_Chillon_N.jpg/1200px)
Don Howard said:
Korm,
I think this is the castle you were thinking of.
(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castle_of_Chillon_N.jpg#/media/File:Castle_of_Chillon_N.jpg)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Castle_of_Chillon_N.jpg/1200px)
no, it is not, but it had just the same style of “hang-to” facilities.
to explain, what i meant with time factor…
best time to use an outhouse is between 11 and 12 a.m. then all the flies are in the kitchen.
Old Privy
Have you grown up
Since modern plumbing came to stay?
If this is the case
You have missed the dear old privy days.
The privy in the old days
Was quite awkward at its best,
But the end product and satisfaction
Took care of all the rest.
A three-holer in the old days
Was a swanky exclusive retreat
And the old Sears Roebuck catalogue
Handled its part of the job real neat.
There was a large supply of drawbacks,
In the summer when the flies were thick
And in the winter when the ice and snow
Made the trail to the outhouse slick.
But this was pioneering,
And a trip when the wind blew hard and cold
Was a record breaking performance
Whether you were young, middle-aged or old.
I miss the dear old out house
Half hidden behind the old apple tree
Where old fashioned red and white roses
Were as fragrant as they could be.
But this is what they call progress
And sanitation thrown in to boot,
I still have a soft spot for the old privy,
I guess I’m sort of a coot!
From; https://blogs.sos.wa.gov/library/index.php/2012/07/washtucna-stopping-typhoid-at-the-outhouse/
circa 1915
I remember an educashunal teevee show about the health department pushing screen doors and windows to combat the flies.
Thanks Korm!
Well, history is sure interesting.
I asked my dad (born in 1926) about outhouses downtown.
He replied that the town (Plain City, Ohio) had its own Sewage Disposal Plant. But outside the City limits, the farmers had only outhouses. His paternal grandparents lived a couple of miles out of town, so they had an
outhouse. There were still a few outhouses within the city, and they usually got turned over on Halloween.
So, I’m thinking my little town doesn’t really need outhouses either. Though, I might do it for a few buildings…we’ll see. 