oil terminals no more...

[South of 1E]

Small and medium size oil terminals were once common place across the country. Trains of 45T, 100T often a mixture of the two,delivered oil/bitumen or whatever in often filthy short rakes on a regular, daily, weekly or monthly basis from the Stanlow/Fawley's/Grangemouths/Ripple Lanes of this world. Small receiving Oil terminals are often modelled but most are now history on the big railway. Be intrigued if readers can remember any long lost ones, the traffic flows etc...At least Lairg on the far North survives, but 100's must have gone

 

a few starters...Thame regular oil from Ripple Lane, often 33 hauled, sole branch traffic?

Buncrewe (nr Inverness) a classic rural oil depot, "Highland baby sulzer" served!

Dunstable served by Ripple Lane, last traffic on the branch, ceased 1990

Aberystwyth - Stanlow served...25's

 

Larger oil depots serving airports were Langley (LHR) and Salfords (LGW) loads of traffic there!!

 

 

Any readers know any more, there must be a good few 100 more long lost ones

 

thanks

 

NR

 

www.leightonlogs.org

[St. Simon]

Hi,

 

Not quite the same, but there used to be an Aviation fuel terminal at RAF Leuchurs in Scotland

 

Another one, but not really a long lost oil terminal, but there still is one east of Bristol beside the GWML, you pass over it on the M4.

 

Simon

[stewartingram]

We used to have one here in Chatteris, on the St.Ives side of the LC. After the line closed it moved to the present site, alongside the former station site.

Stewart

[James]

There was one in Scarborough - it was the last regular freight flow on the York - Scarborough line.

[APOLLO]

Haydock Oil Terminal (between Wigan & St Helens) was served by the ex GC St Helens Branch and a newly built spur to the WCML at Golborne.

 

A large terminal, with a throughput of 2 million tonnes / year. Opened in 1969, closed sometime in mid-late 70's, don't know date but was served by 100 ton tank trains, usually 40 or 47 powered. One from Heysham & 2 from Stanlow daily. (Heavy oil). Light oil (petroleum) came from stanlow by pipeline.

 

More Info from here.

 

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GoyzfRa8zQ8C&pg=PA260&lpg=PA260&dq=shell+haydock+oil+terminal&source=bl&ots=KvLGSeywma&sig=AGL8eABvNU0bi-tu-PO0RAjzKWo&hl=en&ei=PlenTYHINoiGhQfTz5XfCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&sqi=2&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=shell%20haydock%20oil%20terminal&f=false

 

 

Another one was Glazebrook on the CLC Mancherter - Liverpool line, serving British Tar Products. Also now all gone.

 

Brit15

[dave_long]

There was Charringtons at Brownhills nr Walsall. They used anglesea sidings as well. The depot was still open after the passenger through line to Walsall had closed. This meant interestings movements to shunt the trucks into the sidings and then pushed into the depot. There was a good fotopic site, but sadly like the depot long gone.

[Bon Accord]

Bowling, situated on the North bank of the RIver Clyde about halfway between Greenock and Glasgow. If memory serves it was an Esso terminal which was served by small to medium sized Tankers which discharged into tanks/trains ashore.

[Ramblin Rich]

Aberystwyth immediately came to my mind.

A quick Google came up with this thread on RailUK forums

[Kris]

There was one in Plymouth at the mouth of the Plym. Track work is still there and is connected but is no longer used.

[jamie92208]

In my area (West Yorks) there were several that I know of,

1. Still in use is Hunslet east on the branch from Neville Hill that runs down to the river at Knostrop where it used to meet the GN branch to Beeston.

2. There used to be a large underground one on the east of the line to sheffield from Penistone just after the line to Wath diverged.

3. There was one at Liversedge, between Heckmondwike and Cleckheaton on the remaining part of the LNWR 'New Line' from Mirfield to Farnley Junction. It was on the east side of the A62 and is now a housing estate. It was rail served into the 80's using a combination of ex L & Y and LNWR trackage from Thornhill.

4. There is a disused one where the line to Halifax diverges from the L&Y calder valley main line at Elland. As far as I know the equipment is still there and may be visible on Google earth.##

5. Also Skipton used to have a bitumen unloading siding at the east end of the station where the line curves next to the goods shed and near the first NWR station building.

 

Jamie

[newbryford]

5. Also Skipton used to have a bitumen unloading siding at the east end of the station where the line curves next to the goods shed and near the first NWR station building.

 

Now a Tesco car park.......

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Flood]

Hayle Wharf: . Mainly served by class 25s, closed early 1982, trip working from St Blazey as required.

 

Model wise...watch this space.

[96701]

 

Another one, but not really a long lost oil terminal, but there still is one east of Bristol beside the GWML, you pass over it on the M4.

 

Simon

 

That'll be Westerleigh

[emac]

A photograph showing part of the ESSO terminal at Bowling is linked below

ESSO Bowling Link

[Trog]

There is the remains of an oil siding in Watford Yard. A few standpipes and a siding protected by a single tongue catch point.

[60026to]

Haydock Oil Terminal (between Wigan & St Helens) was served by the ex GC St Helens Branch and a newly built spur to the WCML at Golborne.

 

A large terminal, with a throughput of 2 million tonnes / year. Opened in 1969, closed sometime in mid-late 70's, don't know date but was served by 100 ton tank trains, usually 40 or 47 powered. One from Heysham & 2 from Stanlow daily. (Heavy oil). Light oil (petroleum) came from stanlow by pipeline.

 

More Info from here.

 

http://books.google....erminal&f=false

 

Brit15

 

 

I never knew until recently what the railway line was that passed by my old school in Ashton-in-Makerfield (Byrchall High School).

 

I only attended this school for about 18 months in the early 80's (a move down south followed) but I always wondered where the line went.

 

I think there used to be a small terminal near to Shirehampton station which closed in the 80's, I think I remember seeing pics on here of it.

[Temeraire]

I can still remember from my early spotting days in the 80s pairs of 37s passing through Basingstoke en route to Micheldever.B)

[big jim]

there used to be one south of gobowen, whittington, it is still open to road vehicles and the sidings are still in situ, the ground frame is still there too.

 

if you look on google street view put in, whittington, sy11 and follow the B5009 you can clearly see it from the overbridge (dont know how to post links from my i-pad)

[Tom D]

I was born in Liverpool, near St Michaels railway station, there were two railway served oil terminals at the Dingle oil terminal & Herculaneum dock, what was interesting was that there was a tunnel to the south of St Michaels called Fulwood tunnel, which had a number of railway sidings inside. My late father told me that these sidings were used during WWII to hide oil tank wagons.

 

Tom D

[Dan Griffin]

there is/was a small oil recieving terminal at peterborough, amazingly all the sidings are still there and they run up to some buffer stops behind the powerbox, however you cannot see the sidings as they are hidden by a lot of butterfly bushes. there is a picture in the rail centres peterborough book. delioverys were made with 100t tanks and it was a two road affair.

[Oldddudders]

On the South Coast, there was Galley Hill sidings, not far from Bexhill, where in the early '70s the trip with tanks seemed to manage to derail with some regularity. Galley Hill features largely in Spike Milligan's early war memoirs "Adolph Hitler - My Part In His Downfall", there having been a battery of guns there.

 

A little further east, at Ore, there was an occasional supply of aviation spirit to a jet engine - presumably fairly well bolted-down! - that served as an emergency back-up generator.

['CHARD]

Immediately south and east of Derby station (Charringtons again?), only cleared a few years ago and since replaced with what looks like a monolithic Network Rail signalling centre. For a time adjacent was 'RAMSLINE or Baseball Ground Halt' for some sporting venue or other

 

Not certain of my facts on this one, but Waverlites may have a view of the small facility at Newtown St Boswells on the Waverley Route. It's still there, sadly no longer rail served. Along with the entire region of course.

[cromptonnut]

How about the old bitumen terminal at Cranmore - served until 1985 - now part of the East Somerset railway?

 

Bit of text at the bottom of http://www.eastsomer...page.php?pid=16 about it; also a picture http://www.railphoto...1-RP-1.jpg.html of a 25 and 40 arriving at Cranmore with a train of tankers from Ellesmere Port.

 

There was an interesting trackwork arrangment there with access from the run round loop rather than the platform line due to the angle, using a curved diamond across the platform line. The track plan can be seen at the top of the first link above (old terminal top right, now storage sidings), and a photo of that arrangement the last image on this page (scroll the top bar to the right) here: http://www.eastsomer...ery.php?gid=163 and the few before it showing the tanker sidings.

[The Stationmaster]

How about the old bitumen terminal at Cranmore - served until 1985 - now part of the East Somerset railway?

 

Bit of text at the bottom of http://www.eastsomer...page.php?pid=16 about it; also a picture http://www.railphoto...1-RP-1.jpg.html of a 25 and 40 arriving at Cranmore with a train of tankers from Ellesmere Port.

 

There was an interesting trackwork arrangment there with access from the run round loop rather than the platform line due to the angle, using a curved diamond across the platform line. The track plan can be seen at the top of the first link above (old terminal top right, now storage sidings), and a photo of that arrangement here: http://www.eastsomer...ery.php?gid=163

 

 

 

The diamond is in fact a stripped out single slip and is not curved but has a shallow crossing angle. The arrangement isn't really at all unusual as it simply allows a propelling movement off the former Down Line into what became the bitumen siding (it was originally a Mileage Sdg I believe) and as propelling is the only way a train can be shunted into it I can't think of a better way of doing the job to be honest. (it was also the scene of a spectacular derailment in the 1970s when one empty bitumen car finished up having apparently gone the wrong way through the diamond but without touching it - suggesting that it had been airborne at the time).

[eastwestdivide]

Fuel oil (I think) to the paper mills S of New Hythe on the Strood-Maidstone line. Lasted into the 80s.