For $3,500, a Most Putrid Stench

We Americans are a funny lot. Seems like everything has to smell like a pail of Petunias. But once you've had the olfactory treat of Tokyo Bay as it was 60+ years ago and then spent a year in the midst of rice paddies and their "night soil", stuff like this doesn't seem to bother me at all. It's just a part of nature. Maybe that's why I spent a month this summer renovating my sit house:

I have spent many years working on construction sites with portable toilets.

I have not been on a train yet that had a toilet/car that smelled anywhere near the wreak of a portable toilet on a construction site that is in need of emptying on a summer day in Florida ...

niemi24s said:

We Americans are a funny lot. Seems like everything has to smell like a pail of Petunias. But once you've had the olfactory treat of Tokyo Bay as it was 60+ years ago and then spent a year in the midst of rice paddies and their "night soil", stuff like this doesn't seem to bother me at all. It's just a part of nature. Maybe that's why I spent a month this summer renovating my sit house:

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We have an outhouse at our summer cottage also but we don't spend two or three days inside it at a time nor do we pay $1,000 + for the privilege of spending time there.

pennyk said:

Please note that many people are allergic to Febreze (especially people who suffer from asthma). Please do not expose others to chemical sprays (that could be toxic) and let the crew handle any odor issues. Thank you for being considerate of your fellow passengers who may have allergies.

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I was thinking of you when Febreze was mentioned. The interesting thing (but sad) about my trip from WAS-CHI on the Cardinal Friday, a trainee/extra board in the sleepers was arbitrarily spraying throughout. I said something to her about it, pretty much in the vein of what you just posted. The smell was pretty strong.

With all due apologies to the legion of "allergics" out there, I really would not concern myself with spraying the entire car. Only the <ahem> gentlemen's rest facility while I am occupying same, and inside my room(ette) while occupying same. After all, it's my room for the nonce, and I will treat "my" air while breathing it.
I like niemi24's lovely appellation - the "sit house".
Used Ozium for my car when I was a smoker. Oddly enough I never thought of it in this application. Of course, I don't remember useing my car as a rest facility.
And hey - I'll loan you my spray if you wish.

My only experience with bad odor on an Amtrak train was in an Amfleet 1 coach on the Vermonter. We rode from Essex Jct. to Baltimore, and the car was 100% full between White River Jct. and New Haven and didn't really empty out untill we got to New York. We started noticing the reek when we left New York, so it was relatively fortunate that we only had to deal with it for 2 and a half hours of a 13 hour ride.

3 pages, Quite a stink going on here.