Vintage Folding Railcar Sinks for Sleeper Cars

In an earlier post, we looked at the space-saving sinks used in the Barbican, circa the 1960s. Eighty years before that, other organizations had the same problem, of how to stuff a sink in a very limited space. Those organizations were 19th-century railcar manufacturers, like Pullman. As sleeper cars became a thing, railcar designers developed folding sinks: Today at least one company, Watermark Fixtures, still makes replicas. Theirs is made out of cast-iron and porcelain: Here’s an example of one that’s been installed, by architecture and interiors firm Cicada, in a tight basement space:By the 1960s, air and car travel had edged out trains, and sleeper cars declined in popularity for long-distance travel. The folding sinks, well, disappeared.