Mark Cohen: It's not an urban legend. I clearly remember that when I was a kid, the toilets of American passenger trains emptied directly onto the tracks. Of course, they didn't empty until you flushed them. In daylight hours, you could look down and see the ties (sleepers) passing by while you held the handle down. And there was a sign asking passengers not to flush while the train was in a station. I don't recall the exact words, but I think the lyrics I am familiar with ("Passengers will please refrain / From flushing toilets while the train / Is standing in a station…") are a fair paraphrase. The original didn't rhyme or have such good meter, though.

I also remember a very painfully embarrassing experience I had when I was about 12 years old in 1959 or so, traveling by train from St. Louis, MO, to Los Angeles, CA. Late one night, while my parents were asleep, and the train was standing in the station, I HAD to go. I took the sign very seriously, so I decided, when I finished my business, to stand and wait until the train pulled out of the station, and then flush. I waited and waited and waited. Someone knocked on the door and I ignored them. The conductor came with a key and unlocked the door. He closed the door immediately, saying, "Someone's in there," and went away. But my cover having been blown, so to speak, I decided to hold out no longer. I opened the door and explained the situation to the gentleman who was standing there with his little boy, about 3 years old, I suppose, who also had to go. I let them in, and sheepishly went back to my seat. After they went back to their seats, I had to satisfy my curiosity. I went back and checked the toilet, and I saw that they had flushed –- both theirs and mine –- onto the track. And it was still several minutes before the train pulled out.

As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up.