Oil storage at steam depots

[LukeB]

In the real world outside model railways I'm a geologist working in contaminated land and part of what we do involves reviewing old maps for sources of contamination. I was talking our graduate engineer through the contamination around the railway and goods yards in particular - ash, oil and so on. She'd spotted a tank on a map - usually this sets alarm bells ringing for us as tank tends to mean oil or fuel but this was a water tank.

 

That got me thinking though - steam engines used loads of oil for lubrication. Where was it kept at depots and how was it delivered? I've never seen a steam-era model with an obvious oil tank, was it all in drums?

[Fat Controller]

I've only ever seen drums being used in photos of steam depots; even on post-steam depots, I've only once seen lubricating oil being delivered in bulk by rail, and that was a Western Region hydraulic depot. Loaded barrels of oil tended to be kept on their sides on steel racks, with a brass tap. There was sometimes a drip tray, but I get the impression that emptying them wasn't the highest priority.

My sister was in the same line of business as you; she cut her teeth on Saltley Gasworks.

[The Stationmaster]

Lub oil was normally delivered in 45 gallon steel barrels and these were normally stored outside until a fresh barrel was required in the stores.  Oil was normally issued to Drivers from the stores although at a small depot with no stores it was no doubt taken from barrels kept - probably - inside the shed somewhere.  In later years oil barrels were normally stored on concrete pads to avoid grknd contaminsation but I would imagine that was very much a latter day innovation - photos might be the best guide if you can find any.

 

Oiling took place in either ina riunning shed or outdoors over a preparation pit or even outdoors 0ver any sort of ground conditions some some sort of comtamination was really inevtiable  even if it was contained /directed by the drains (if there were any - in a pit.

 

Oil for fuel use seems to have always  been stored in large capacity tanks - properly protected with bund walls although there is clear evidence that in some locations it was pumpr ed from storage wagons direct to fuel tanls.  Spillage during fuelling was highly likely and commonplace and teh ground cxonditions in diesel fuelling areas always tended in my experience to have surface oil contamination although in most dieseel age facilities fuelling took place ona concrete aparon which might or might not have drained to a proper interceptor.

 

Don't forget also that oiling (in the form of topping-up) also took place at stations, especially in the likes of bay platforms where trains were turned round or where engines might stand for some time.  this sort of contamination often got far, far, worse once diesel traction came along.  For example at Paddington the 'wells' - the paved areas between the running rails on many of the platforms - used to be washed down weekly (or more frequently in the case of platforms used by sleeping car trains) and the amount of oil around could build up simply from leakage and drips fro diesel locos.

[45125]

Having seen what was in the former stores of a large steam depot,(Hull Dairycoates)  the oil of various types was stored in large tanks of around 1500 gallons.

 

Al Taylor

[pH]

8 hours ago, LukeB said:

That got me thinking though - steam engines used loads of oil for lubrication. Where was it kept at depots and how was it delivered? I've never seen a steam-era model with an obvious oil tank, was it all in drums?

Given that steam locomotive lubrication was a ‘total loss’ system, how contaminated was/is the ground under running lines?

 

(I know SR Bulleid pacifics were supposed to retain the lubricating oil, but that arrangement didn’t work too well.)

[LukeB]

If we were doing an investigation of a former depot our main worries are oil, ash and in some cases PCBs which are exceptionally nasty. 

 

For a site immediately next to a busy line asbestos from brake dust is the main concern. 

 

Thanks for the information everyone, I'm surprised it was delivered in such small containers given the size of some of the depots. Fortunately the big stations don't tend to have developments with gardens and landscaping around them so the risk from all those diesels dropping oil in large quantities is small!