Cast iron urinal, Maryport & Carlisle

Urinal, cast iron, single stall urinal, Maryport & Carlisle Railway ex Curthwaite Station, believed to have been manufactured by George Smith & Company, Sun Foundry Glasgow, c. 1870-1890.

Before the 1890s most trains lacked toilets, so providing facilities on station platforms was essential and ‘comfort breaks’ were built into timetables. This single stall urinal came from Curthwaite station in Cumbria on the Maryport & Carlisle Railway; it may have been made in Glasgow at the Sun Foundry of George Smith and Company, a manufacturer that also produced drinking fountains.