Ffestiniog Railway Toilet Pump-out System
From 2023 it will be a requirement for preserved railways which use any part of Network Rail’s infrastructure to fit their trains with ‘closed’ toilet systems – better known as retention tank systems.
With over 50 years’ experience in this type of equipment on the UK Narrow Canal System, LeeSan is ideally placed to work with preserved railways to design, supply, commission, service and support their installations.
The company has developed fittings, probes, toilets, pumps and accessories which work cleanly, reliably and easily. The 10 toilets and three pump-out locations on the Ffestiniog Railway are testament to LeeSan’s expertise and commitment.
Marc, a guard with over 30 years’ experience, comments: “Compared with the old system, pumping out is now a dream”.
The appropriate carriages each have a low-water flush Sealand Traveller (gravity flush) toilet installed in the toilet compartment. This is fed with flushing water from a water tank mounted under the carriage.
The toilet sits directly over the waste tank and on depression of a foot pedal discharges the waste into the tank by gravity. While the pedal is depressed, the toilet flushes and water enters to clean the bowl, when the pedal is released the toilet is ready for the next use.
The Ffestiniog Railway has installed automatic switches which operate a ventilation fan whenever the toilet compartment door is opened. These compartments also contain a stainless washbasin, again fed by water from the system.
Mounted on the outside of the carriage is a LeeSan ISO pump-out fitting which exactly matches the LeeSan ISO pump-out probe valve (complete with sight glass).
Each morning, the guard opens the pump-out cabinet and brings out the hose with its probe valve. The probe valve is then inserted into the pump-out fitting on the carriage.
The brass barrel of the probe valve is sealed via an internal ‘O’ ring and an ‘O’ ring on the top face which are built into the pump fitting creating a simple but exact fit. Once the valve is opened and the pump is started, it forms a secure, hands-free connection.
The pump then draws out the contents of the tank. Using the sight glass in the probe valve the operator can stop the pump when the task is complete and the pump then discharges directly to the main sewer system.
A small amount of water is then added to the tank via the pump-out fitting, the hose is stowed and everything is ready for the next day’s visitors.
A warning gauge is fitted in the guard’s compartment to indicate if the tank is full, but Ffestiniog Railway staff say that the reserve capacity built into the design is so great that this will almost certainly never be activated.
A simple blackboard is used to record when each carriage has been pumped out.
A range of pump options is available...
The Ffestiniog Railway’s installations feature quiet, powerful, peristaltic pumps in the two GRP platform cabinets, which are fitted with heaters to protect the pump equipment during the winter months and a larger peristaltic pump in the brick building at the end of the main platform.
This latter system pumps via a trackside connection and under track pipework, since it was not possible to locate a pump cabinet between these lines.
Some small modifications have been made to the equipment at the Ffestiniog Railway’s carriage works for the convenience of the staff. For example, the screw caps on the pump-out fittings have been modified to take the square keys used by guards. Dual language signs in English and Welsh have also been created. LeeSan is working with the Ffestiniog Railway team to incorporate their ideas to improve the system, which means the system is constantly improving and evolving.