Public Restroom Project - Official Work Thread

[Richard "Steam" Symmes]

I would suspect you don't want too many visitors until proper restrooms are in place.  Most real tourist sites do not expect their guests to use a Porta-Potty.  That's always been the Achilles heel of the WW&F.

[Joe Fox]

And thankfully, with this much needed project underway now, the museum will soon be able to start thinking/looking of and for ways to really try to attract more people, tour groups, etc.

[Ken Fleming]

I would ask that the "Restroom" project be separated out from this topic.  The restroom construction is a major project and it deserves to be covered with its own progress reports and photos.  I know that my wife has been waiting for years for a real restroom.

[Joe Fox]

Many have waited many years for real restrooms, and it's nice that it's finally starting to come together. It is truely amazing how much the railroad has grown and achieved over the last several years. And with current plans for a roundhouse, car barn, etc. the railroad will have many more things to keep visitors wanting to come back. Even more so, hopefully the railroad can extend as far north as we can go, and go south as far as we can where ever those two points may be.

[James Patten]

Restroom work is awaiting the permitting process to go through.  Once that happens we can jump to it.

[Jeff Schumaker]

How long the permit process usually take?

Jeff Schumaker

[James Patten]

A lot longer than we were expecting.

[Jeff Schumaker]

Doesn't that always seem to be the case?

Jeff

[Stephen Hussar]

[Fred Morse]

All the sewer pipes are in the ground and will be tested Weds. and next Sat. the 4 Ft. ditch will be dug for electricty and water to be brought from the house. after that more crushed rock will be added then insulation and rebar after that.then the cement can be poured. There's still plenty of work to be done by those who enjoy work.

[James Patten]

Here's a couple of photos from Saturday's work.  The first shows Steve Z working on leveling out the stone base, the second while the donated excavator was digging the trench (actually filling it in by the time I got there).  Way down at the bottom was a layer of heavy clay, which was even hard for the back hoe to deal with.

[Fred L. Kuhns]

  James,  The progress on the new restrooms is just great.   Fred L. Kuhns

[Richard "Steam" Symmes]

This may have been answered before, but what will the exterior of the restrooms look like?  Will it have some sort of "rustic" appearance, rather than the usual cement block "highway rest stop" look?  It would be nice to have it "fit in" with the other nearby structures.  I love the restrooms at Clark's Trading Post. It is part of their Victorian main street, and is made to look like a bank, built out of substantial looking granite blocks, etc.  The windows have gold leaf lettering to complete the image, and they even include humorous sayings such as, "Make a deposit with us", etc.  Once inside, it's a state of the art dual sex restroom, with baby changing tables, etc. And spotlessly clean, I might add. Which is another thing to remember. Once in operation, any restroom has to be kept spotless at all times.  Nothing turns visitors off faster than dirty sanitary facilities at an attraction. 

[James Patten]

Here are the results of Saturday's work on the restroom project. 

[Duncan Mackiewicz]

Great shot James. It looks to be almost ready for concrete although I suspect a bit more prep is still in order.
Duncan