Tank car loading at Annapolis Royal

[Chuck Conway]

Hello again,


Can anyone tell me what is being loading into this tank car? This seems to me to be a loading standpipe.
http://dardpi.ca/wiki/index.php?title=I ... 6_Yard.jpg
Is there a storage tank out of the picture that I'm missing? Were there other such facilities at other locations? Looks to me like this has great modeling potential. Thanks in advance for your help.

Chuck Conway

[downeastrailfan]

Since this photo was taken in steam days, I wonder if it is fuel oil for the steam locomotives.

I'm almost certain the tank cars were being unloaded, since there is no source for oil in Annapolis Royal, or for that matter, anywhere on the DAR. An old town map may be of assistance.

Thanks for the great scan, Chuck. It is a real gem

Matt Keoughan

[Chuck Conway]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the reply. I didn't know if there was any oil in NS or not, and the lack of it rules out a crude oil loadout. This still appears to be a loadout to me as this type of tank car looks like one with a bottom drain. And note the second loading device beyond the first (kind of silver). I've seen those at oil loadouts around here. That's a good idea about a town map. Perhap someone on the list knows of a valuation map that would shed light on this.

Here's another question. You speculated that it might be fuel oil for the locomotives. I was under the impression that DAR steam engines were coal fired.http://dardpi.ca/wiki/index.php?title=I ... 0-2505.jpg Were some in fact oil fired?

Glad you enjoyed the scan. I love this type of view myself as it really shows what helped support the railroad. Thanks again in advance for any replies.

Chuck Conway

[DARMIDLAND]

Hello to All,I live on mile 48 of the Truro Sub of the DAR which is long gone.I have had a interest in the DAR for many years and was lucky enough to travel once on the Mixed and on the last run to Yarmouth from Halifax.I have a fair amount of info on the DAR and will share as needed.Great site.Andrew

Alot of the small towns in N.S. had bulk oil storage plants for Stove,Diesel,and Furnace.The oil products were delivered locally or picked up by the user.The one you have a picture of and another one I know of was in Digby.I was told by my former manager who worked for one of the big oil companies that the railways in the 1970's and early 80's began to charge the oil depots high prices to keep there sidings, so began the truckng to these depots of the bulk loads.Some small towns still recieved oil by rail when the roads were closed in spring.

[Paul Charland]

Evening All,

To add to the tankcar usage, according to the 1975 outbound loads the DAR shipped fish oil in tankcars all over the country. The vast majority of these loads originated in Saulnierville and were shipped in CGTX tankcars, although a UTLX car was also used once, one load originating in Middleton in a GATX car, along with the odd boxcar was also used.

From the notes I have the shipment for 1975 were as follows:

Jan Saulnierville (1) Tankcar
Feb Saulnierville (2) Tankcars
Jul Saulnierville (5) Tankcars
(4) Boxcars
Middleton (1) Tankcar
Aug Saulnierville (5) Tankcars
Sep Saulnierville (7) Tankcars
Oct Saulnierville (3) Tankcars

Not crude but oil just the same!

Paul

[downeastrailfan]

From Digby to Yarmouth, the railway ran inland, away from the more populated communities along the coast (seems like a strange political move to me). Saulnierville was actually Saulnierville Station on the railway (and is a community to this day) and is a few miles inland. Anyway, my point is all that fish oil was trucked to the tankcars. A great example of trucks doing the short haul, and the railway doing the long haul, just the way it should be.

[Chuck Conway]

Hi guys,

Thanks so much for the excellent observations on what might be happening in the picture. Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought about the possibility that the tank cars might be carrying fish oil! I figured it would be similar to what Andrew described about handling more typical cargos like fuel oil, etc. That appears to be a CGTX car in the picture. Does that enhance its chances of hauling fish oil, or were they assigned to handle a variety of commodities? Was the fish oil a by-product of fish processing? Must have taken a LOT of fish to fill an 8,000 gallon tank car. Anyway, thanks again for the excellent info. I'd love to hear more! Take care,

Chuck

[Paul Charland]

Hi Chuck,

No, I'd have to agree that the tankcar in your photo is most likely diesel and not fish oil based on the use of the standpipe. If you look to the far right of the shot you will see what may be the edge of a fuel storage tank. It would be nice to see another view of the yard to confirm this though.

Paul

[downeastrailfan]

I had a look at the steam folder, and I didn't see any signs of oil burners. It would make sense that the DAR would have been a coal burning railway, because there were a multitude of coal mines in Nova Scotia in the steam era (Joggins, Springhill, New Glasgow area, Cape Breton, to name a few). So, I retract my previous statement about oil burners on the DAR!

I agree with Paul and Andrew. The cars most likely carried gas, diesel, or stove oil. As Paul mentioned, another photo would confirm or deny the existence of storage tanks. Although, is it possible trucks picked up loads and transferred it elsewhere? I have a Jim Saughnessey photo taken in 1962 looking railway east from the hump bridge, but its in storage.

[Paul Charland]

Hi Matt,

From my old memory, the standpipe usually suggests a permanent storage facility nearby, might even be an underground tank... must be a shot of the yard out there somewhere.

Paul

[Frogmore]

From time to time I have gone to Google searching for new DAR info. Was delighted to discover your excellent website and especially the mystery photo of the tank car at Annapolis. This tank car is unloading gasoline for the Texaco bulk plant. This plant distributed gasoline and lubricating oils throughout Annapolis & Digby Counties and it was operated by my father from 1929 until 1962. During my teenage years I unloaded many tank cars from the facility shown in photo. A ten foot aluminum pipe would be balanced on my shoulder, I would walk out to the end of the car and then walk forward and drop this pipe down through the open dome. The horizontal pipe in photo would be swung up from the unloading rack and connected to the vertical pipe in the tank. A leather washer at this connection was a constant source of trouble. Underground pipes ran from here, under the north leg of the wye, to the storage tanks about 300 feet away. A single cylinder gas engine ran the pump, and it would take four hours to empty a large 8500 gallon tank car. Beyond the tank car in photo can be seen the unloading rack for the Imperial Oil bulk plant, which was adjacent to ours. They employed a series of jointed elbows, resulting in a much higher configuration. This is my first attempt at forums - when I figure out how to send a photo I can provide more pictures of this area. Now a little quiz: How many out there recognize the significance of my username?

Doug

[Ric]

Not I

[stem]

Ha ha. Nice reference Doug. Figured it out.

http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm_v2.php?i ... st=&ci=118

Do you you know more of the history of this station? Was this the original W&A station built in 1869?

Would you have a connection with the local Historical society? Perhaps you could inform them of the DARDPI and like Wolfville did (http://dardpi.ca/wiki/index.php?title=C ... al_Society) perhaps they could scan their railways photos for us to put up?

[Chuck Conway]

Hi Doug and list,

Thanks for the excellent input on what is going on in this picture. So you are saying that the two boxcars are spotted at at Imperial Oil? What was in the boxcars? Canned or drummed products? And is the loading rack you are refering to on the end of the car on the right? Thanks again for the input.

Chuck Conway

[stem]

Chuck uploaded a new photo of Annapolis Royal station from 1973 that should open this topic up for a little more discussion.

Is this the Texaco or Esso bulk storage facility behind the freight shed?

http://dardpi.ca/wiki/index.php?title=I ... 1973_a.jpg