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This wooden car is a fine example of the simple,
but handsome passenger-car design of the late
19th century. It is completely paneled in mahogany, and originally had
ornate detail-work painted
on the ceiling. The original seats were probably plain, wooden benches
since this car was used principally for carrying passengers in short
trips between towns. When operating in Hawaii, the
exterior was also decorated with detailed scroll-painting.
Both the Oahu cars are furnished with an early-design
railroad car "water closet." A tiny space, literally the size of a small
closet, was walled off and protected with a door. Inside the "closet"
a
15-inch hole was cut in the floorboards. Over the hole a funnel-shaped
metal tube with a ten-inch opening at the top was placed, with a round
seat on it, also of metal.
The toilet could be used only when the train
was in motion, since refuse fell directly on the train tracks. Over
the last century, passenger car restrooms have improved considerably;
on modern
Amtrak trains they are similar to airplane lavatories with containment
tanks in many U.S. states. However, even today, passengers are admonished
not to use the restrooms while the train is in the station, because
in some areas refuse is still released directly onto the rails.
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