Discharging 14 ton tank wagons

[spikey]

What facilities would a small factory with a private siding need in order to offload gas oil and suchlike occasionally from a 14 ton tank wagon?  Period is 1945 - 1960.

 

I can remember seeing the odd tank wagon in a factory I worked in years ago but I can't recall what the setup was, and I've got nowhere with a Google image search ...

[Fat Controller]

What facilities would a small factory with a private siding need in order to offload gas oil and suchlike occasionally from a 14 ton tank wagon?  Period is 1945 - 1960.

 

I can remember seeing the odd tank wagon in a factory I worked in years ago but I can't recall what the setup was, and I've got nowhere with a Google image search ...

They'd not need much; the tank wagon would have a valve with a threaded spigot, to which a hose could be coupled- I've seen wagons being unloaded into road-tankers like this in the 1990s, though it was resin, not oil. Class A liquids would normally be siphoned via the top hatch; a hand-operated pump would be used to start the flow.

[spikey]

Thank you, sir.  I was puzzled by the fact that I remembered them being unloaded, but I couldn't recall any associated installation or tackle.

[JeremyC]

According to Tourret's book on petroleum tank wagons, operationally a distinction is drawn between 'white' and 'black' products. A 'white' product when drained leaves the tank clean. While Gas Oil is a class B oil (flash point 23C to 60C) because it is considered a 'white' product it would be generally carried in Class A wagons. These as already has been said were unloaded from the top.

Edited October 16, 2017 by JeremyC

[phil gollin]

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IF it was a permanent installation then there MUST be some sort of static earthing arrangement and probably a gantry/walkway for relatively easy access to the top hatch (with a lightning conductor).  A well designed feature would have a concrete apron underneath draining to either an oil separating sump or just the drains.

[Clive Mortimore]

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IF it was a permanent installation then there MUST be some sort of static earthing arrangement and probably a gantry/walkway for relatively easy access to the top hatch (with a lightning conductor).  A well designed feature would have a concrete apron underneath draining to either an oil separating sump or just the drains.

Or just a ladder so the bloke unloading could connect the hose to the siphon. Looking at photos of small unloading sidings in the days of the 14ton wagons they did not meet today's health and safety regulations.

[Fat Controller]

Or just a ladder so the bloke unloading could connect the hose to the siphon. Looking at photos of small unloading sidings in the days of the 14ton wagons they did not meet today's health and safety regulations.

The Cheona Press album of tank wagons shows exactly that; a Class 1 tank in a siding with a wooden ladder leaning against it. Often, the unloading siding was just part of the normal goods yard, where either the tank would be discharged direct into a road tanker, or into steel drums and cans. A cursory glance at the various volumes of plans of GWR stations shows 'oil stores' in a corner of the goods yard of many; these are not the stores for oil for illumination, as these were normally on the platform. Even into the 1960s, some oil traffic was dealt with in a very 'rustic' manner- I have seen a photo of Newcastle Emlyn with a Class A tank standing, and a well-known photo of a D600 Warship at Llandrindod Wells has a pair of Class B tanks in the formation (there were no purpose-built oil terminals on the Central Wales line; the oil was almost certainly for use by either Ffairfach or Llangadog creameries.

[The Johnster]

An oil store is a different thing to a lamp hut, where (der) lamps were kept and a drum of paraffin to supply them.  On GWRWR, these were usually a corrugated hut with a curved roof very like the Wills model, they are a little like gunpowder stores with roofs designed to blow off in the event of an explosion so that the fire and blast is channelled upwards (relatively) safely.  They would be on station platforms or near the shunters cabin in a goods or marshalling yard, and have a bench or shelf on which the lamps could be filled and trimmed, and fire buckets full of sand (never water for an oil fire) either hooked on the side wall or near by.  A fully filled and properly trimmed oil lamp reservoir had a burn time of about 24 hours.  Signal lamps are supposed to burn for 7 days.

 

An oil store in a goods yard is a different sort of building, where drums would be stored away from the main building because of the fire risk.  It's main distinguishing feature is the big 'no smoking' sign which everybody ignores...

[phil gollin]

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As a matter of interest, how was capacity/delivery amount measured ?

 

Did the customer buy the nominal amount loaded, or did they use dipsticks (I remember these on road tankers), or did they use weighbridges, or ?

 

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[Clive Mortimore]

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As a matter of interest, how was capacity/delivery amount measured ?

 

Did the customer buy the nominal amount loaded, or did they use dipsticks (I remember these on road tankers), or did they use weighbridges, or ?

 

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Hi Phil

 

Sorry I cannot answer your question regarding capacity measuring. Would refineries have a weighbridge like collieries had to weigh the loaded wagon on departure? 

 

In an earlier post you mentioned earthing the wagon. I recall when I was in the army when unloading fuel the fuel truck would be earthed in case of an electrical problem and I suppose lightning. I am not sure if railway wagons are earthed as they have metal wheels on metal rails so are they self earthing?

 

A fiend of mine works for the environment agency and she told me about a dipstick incident. She traced a leak of petrol into a river back to a garage, who had not noticed a leak. On inspection of the tank there was a small dent with a small tear in the metal. This was where the delivery drivers were dropping their dipsticks in to the tank and over the years the dimple had been made and in the end the metal gave way. This allowed the petrol to slowly make its way to the river.

Edited October 17, 2017 by Clive Mortimore