Re: ODD SIGNS

[John Duncan McCallum <mccallum@melbpc.org.au>]

"Ron BESDANSKY (formerly Ron BEST)" wrote:
 
> I was on a VR train and need to "see a man about a dog". I found a door
> marked "Lavatory" and made a rash assumption. I opened the door, looked
> inside, and thought "Strewth, someone's nicked the dunny!". Then I found a
> door across the corridor marked "W.C". Assuming it was not a compartment
> reserved for a certain British ex-prime minister, I went in. I decided that
> the Victorian Railways must have a signwriter who is keen on using English
> words derived from Latin in their "etymologically correct" sense.

It was not only the VR that used such language.
Back in 1960, I went on my first ARHSWA weekend rail tour. They added
sleeping
cars to the usual Saturday afternoon train to Bunbury. One of the cars
was a
very old one. Because they overbooked the train, I was allocated to only
space
with a bed left. Unfortunately, the door was labelled "Men's Lavatory".
My
sleep was interrupted a couple of times by men looking for the toilet,
which
was the next door, labelled "Men's W.C."
I think the car in question is now in the ARHS Museum at Bassendean.

John McCallum