RMweb Premium Compound2632 Posted March 7, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 7, 2020 On 05/03/2020 at 16:05, The Stationmaster said: Don't confuse the original site - in the goods yard on the UP side (shown in the picture I linked above) - with the new specialised purely oil terminal site which later replaced it on the DOWN side at the Wokingham end of the station. I am reasonably sure the change probably occurred as a consequence of the construction of the A329(M) which would have interfered with access to the Up side as well as possibly impinging on the railway boundary on that side. Indeed, looking again at your linked photo, the caption writer has confused the two, since what is now Amber Close is behind the photographer. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southof1E top tmd Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 "This traffic is both before my time (first commuting from Reading Feb 1994) and after my period of interest (pre-Grouping) but can anyone say when this traffic began?" First recorded log of an Earley bound oil train i have found to date is Stratford's 6819 back on September 19th 1969. NR 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SED Freightman Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Having now had a chance to dig through my old freight timetables I have found the following information which gives an idea of the services operating to Earley and may be of interest :- SR WTT Section M - 01/05/1972 to 06/05/1973 - Mandatory Freight Services (ie. services that were expected to operate as shewn) 6Y82 1016 (SX) Hoo Junction to Earley arr.1321 - Worked by EDL, headcode HG. 6Y38 1816 (SX) Earley to Hoo Junction arr.2048 - Worked by EDL, Headcode HK. 6Y77 0422 (SO) Hoo Junction to Earley arr.0715 - Worked by EDL, headcode HG. 6Y32 0945 (SO) Earley to Hoo Junction arr.1245 - Worked by EDL, headcode HK. The above services would have conveyed tank cars from/to the BP Grain Refinery and although booked for Class 73 haulage the published loads were quoted for either Class 33 or 73. SR WTT Section N - 07/10/1974 to 04/05/1975 - Conditional Freight Services (ie. services that were regular enough to appear in the WTT but which may be subject to cancellation due to traffic fluctuations) 6Y77 0422 (SX) Hoo Junction to Earley arr.0718 - Worked by EDL, headcode HG. 6Y32 0948 (SX) Earley to Hoo Junction arr.1249 - Worked by EDL, headcode HG. 6Y82 1016 (SX) Hoo Junction to Earley arr.1321 - Worked by EDL, headcode HG. 6Y38 1816 (SX) Earley to Hoo Junction arr.2045 - Worked by EDL, Headcode HG. 6O73 1155 (SX) Aldermaston to Earley arr.1245 - NOTE does not operate if 1016 ex Hoo Junction runs. 0V00 1315 (SX) Earley to Reading arr.? - Light loco off 6O73. 0V73 1815 (SX) Reading to Earley arr.1830 - Light engine to work 6V73 6V73 1925 (SX) Earley to Aldermaston arr.? 6Y77 0422 (SO) Hoo Junction to Earley arr.0713 - Worked by EDL, headcode HG. 6Y32 0945 (SO) Earley to Hoo Junction arr.1245 - Worked by EDL, headcode HG. Loads for the Hoo Junction services continued to be quoted for both class 33 and 73 locos, whilst only loads for a class 31 were quoted for the Aldermaston service which presumably conveyed traffic that had arrived at Aldermaston by pipeline. Interestingly although Earley was a Shell distribution depot, during the early 70's most of their oil appears to have come from the BP Grain refinery, I seem to recall that BP and Shell had an arrangement whereby product was supplied to each others customers / depots from the nearest BP or Shell refinery. Although the terminal at Earley appears to have been quite busy the siding capacity and hence train size was rather restricted so there it would seem that a lot of short trains were operated. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 10, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 10, 2020 Cross supply from refineries to terminals wasn't particularly unusual especially when involving Shell and BP which worked very closely together for a number of years (hence some railcars branded Shell Mex BP). You might also find instances of cross supply from oil terminals to local petrol stations etc which increased as railhead depots were rationalised. Aldermaston was originally a Ministry of Supply terminal although it probably at some time have changed to oil company ownership (although it was in any case was normally operated by an oil company in later years). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
number6 Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Saw this the other day... https://www.rail-online.co.uk/p598839012/e18b1492d 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Compound2632 Posted March 10, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 10, 2020 10 minutes ago, number6 said: Saw this the other day... https://www.rail-online.co.uk/p598839012/e18b1492d That's the one Mike @The Stationmaster posted earlier; as I mentioned, the caption is misleading as this shows the up (north) sidings, traces of which can still be made out on the ground (the loading dock, part of the 19th-century goods facilities, pre-dating the oil traffic) and in aerial photos on mapping sites (the long back siding, which must have been added for the oil traffic as it's not present on the 1932 OS 25" map); the early 70s A329(M) doesn't actually impinge. Amber Close is in fact on the south side, behind the camera; there was a lay-by siding on this side by 1910. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
number6 Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Oh sorry - Rail Online are often very open to edits on their captioning. Maybe send that to them? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franco Crosti Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 On 05/03/2020 at 07:53, Compound2632 said: This traffic is both before my time (first commuting from Reading Feb 1994) and after my period of interest (pre-Grouping) but can anyone say when this traffic began? Having just found this topic, I can say there's a postcard on eBay showing tankers at Earley and no conductor rail on the main line, so this was before WW2. We seem to be looking at some time between 1932 and 1939. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Could you post a link or item number? My attempt to find it was a miserable failure! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franco Crosti Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 11 hours ago, Nearholmer said: Could you post a link or item number? My attempt to find it was a miserable failure! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251975586003?hash=item3aaaea50d3:g:ma8AAOSw3xJVZvAa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Interesting photo! Was this a commercial terminal, or some sort of government/military terminal pre-WW2? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franco Crosti Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Here's a cracking view from 1965 showing the entrance to the sidings with Maunsell U Class sandwiched between some vans and Shell BP tankers. https://www.anistr.com/media/8413709d-29b2-4d16-a57e-4ef4f4e69d4b-31799-earley 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franco Crosti Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 27 minutes ago, Nearholmer said: Interesting photo! Was this a commercial terminal, or some sort of government/military terminal pre-WW2? I haven't found any reference to it on the Internet, so perhaps that information is in local record offices or railway board minutes. I don't know if a government/military terminal would have been more secure than appears here. It also seems to pre-date the Earley power stations. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRC Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 Just found this thread! I lived in Woodley in my youth and was regularly on my bike dropping down there on a Saturday and school holidays to see what the loco was. This must have been 1983 to 1988 ish. As far as I can remember 99% of the time it was a Stratford/Ripple Lane allocated 37 or 47, but occasionally a rarer allocated loco turned up. Poor Malcolm and Gordon in the ticket office used to have to, twice a day, go and operate the ground frame to enable the train to access the depot and yes, it wasn’t a big place so I think it was only load seven. The route it took was across the North London line, drop down onto the GWML at Acton and onwards to Reading where it was routed onto the goods lines at the back of platform 9/10. There the loco ran round. Then it was routed onto the Southern and down to Earley where it performed a ‘Z’ move from up line to down line (and the rear of the train was then in the down platform at Earley) and another ‘Z’ move to deposit the tanks in the depot. On the return with the empties, it did the same ‘Z’ moves but departed towards Waterloo where I think it picked up the NLL at Clapham and via Kensington. As someone has said, it arrived in the morning peak and left early afternoon. I don’t remember it being open when I started work and commuted daily from 1988, but the remnants survived a while before it was lifted and houses built on it. Thanks for the memories and having stood on Early station not twenty minutes ago, this took me back. 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben04uk Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 these services seemed to have evaded the photographer! I dont think i've seen a photo of the Earley oil depot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Compound2632 Posted July 20, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 20, 2023 4 minutes ago, Ben04uk said: these services seemed to have evaded the photographer! I dont think i've seen a photo of the Earley oil depot. There are a couple of good ones linked upthread. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRC Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 2 hours ago, Compound2632 said: There are a couple of good ones linked upthread. Not many after it was moved to its final position though. I’ve looked countless times and can’t find anything. I’ve seen a couple of the train in transit but nothing of the actual site. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Pilotman Posted July 20, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 20, 2023 It’s not the best quality but this video shows the layout in 1988, a few minutes from the end. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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