Early 1900's Oil Storage Tanks


Trussrod

Trussrod

Well-Known Member
Does anyone know if someone makes any models of early small Oil Storage Tanks or a facility for the turn of the Century, 1900's era ?

I'd like them to be verticle if possible and did see one in an old picture showing a Texco gas station and figured if a kit of one kind or another was offered with some piping that would be great and a big help but haven't seen anything?

I'd like to get a couple of tanks, one for Oil and one for Kerosine as that was widely used in the time period and give me two items to deliver for revenue.

I haven't seen any of them so I may wind up having to make them as all that I have seen are very large in size for more modern times.


Any help is appreciated! :)
 
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David: I believe that Jim is right, most of the early tanks were horizontal. The SS Limited kit #1112 might be the closest to what you are looking for. It is a craftsman kit with the tanks being built up from stacked cardboard rings which are then covered with an embossed wrapper. Kit does have a lot of flexibility in the heights on the tanks, adding or subtracting rings makes each one individual.

Matt Dillow
MD Custom Models
 
Hi Jim & Matt,
Thanks to both of you for checking for me, it isn't an easy search by any means.

Jim, as far asthe Bar Mills kit, the office and Woodland Scenics tuck sure fit the time period but not the very modern rounded edge tanks they include. I think they may fit your time period though. Thanks again for the info.


Matt, I also just came across the Scale Structures model which has either the early Standard Oil or American Oil Logo on the tanks and I thank you for bringing them to my attention. They are a lot more like what I was looking for but still might be too bnig for the area I alloted them?

I did see a shot of a gas station from years back in Fresno, Ca. just South of me and it showed a number of smaller verticle tanks that contained different petrolium products and I recall there was at least one larger verticle tank in the background, for gas I assume?

If I come across it I'll post it. Interesting what you can find on the web, in doing a search for the Standard Oil early Logo I never realized they had so many different Logo's depending on what part of the nation.


Oil_Tanks_-_Verticle_-_by_Scale_Structures_1.jpg
 
David, the Walthers picture of the tanks is very poor. Take a look at http://www.barmillsmodels.com/, select "Earl's Oil" and look at the pictures, especially the fourth picture down the page. Those look like typical flat ended, riveted tanks to me. I think the N scale version has the incorrect rounded end, welded tanks, but the other models have the correct riveted tanks.
 
Yes, that's plainly evident by the enhanced Scale Structures image I correctred above. The shot initially comes from Scale Structures I'm sure and walthers does a very poor job of showing the product in it best light on their site.

When I viewed the Bar Mills site today their shots were all extremely well done photographly and the colors and clarity looked fantastic!


Now as far as the tanks they showed, I couldn't see any that appoeared as you said, none were rivited at all from what I could see.

As I said before, in a prior search of the web I did find an Older Oil distributor, from Fresno I believe, and he had a larger Vertical tank behind slimmer Vertical tanks which had various products such Kerosene, White Gas etc written in them. I tried to find it again and couldn't but it was definitely there before and I guess I didn't save the location!? lDarn.
 
This thread caught my eye as this is something I want also. I found a National Oil Co. tanks made by Life-Like Trains. VERY CRUDE .. but .. worth looking at for the arrangement.

There is a diagram of a tank in a book titled "Oil Fuel tank for steam" in Google Books. Published in 1914 it may be helpful.

Here's an old tank located at the Teeterville Ghost town (oil boom town) in the 1920's

Finally .. not from the period you are looking for .. but here are some good numbers .. Dimensions of fuel oil storage tanks .. Capacity, Dia, Length .. good stuff for scratching ...
 
Trussrod said:
... As I said before, in a prior search of the web I did find an Older Oil distributor, from Fresno I believe, and he had a larger Vertical tank behind slimmer Vertical tanks which had various products such Kerosene, White Gas etc written in them. I tried to find it again and couldn't but it was definitely there before and I guess I didn't save the location!? Darn.
Click to expand...
@Trussrod.
Check out this blog .. Interacting With Miniature Railroading. There is an aerial view (date taken unknown) of the Claremont Packing House (blt. 1913). There are a couple blurry photos of a couple of oil tanks behind the building (smudge oil tanks for the orange grove smudge pots).

About half-way down he has built some vertical storage tanks on his layout .. but they appear to have been welded. :)

Rustyrail.com has a "mini-scene" vertical, riveted oil tank. If nothing else is worth taking a look at for the an 'idea source'

Found a photo of Nacogdoches County's first oil storage tanks from first oil field .. c. 1880

Ha! Found a drawing and a diagram of "Details of construction of supply or delivery tank" .. pages 14 and 15 of "How oil is used for fuel on locomotives" (Google books) published 1902!. Excellent! I'm going to see if I can 'replicate' that in Sketchup. Since it is downloadable in PDF you can zoom in. Here are the pics .. reduced for this post.

First, an etching showing the tanks placed in a yard!
1902_tanks_1s.png


This is the sweet part! Fully diagram WITH DIMENSIONS!!!
1902_tanks_2s.png


Here, I zoomed in a bit on the lower left ..
1902_tanks_3s.png


I put up links from thumbnails to larger images on my blog of these two drawings
 
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I've been 'translating' the storage tank above into Sketchup. Progress so far is .. the bents are done and the tie cribbing footings. So far all the measurements on the bents seems dead on .. but I have to say that the draftsman must have been drinking when he was drawing the cribbing. It makes no sense at all if you look at the drawings. I made a 'best guess'. The photo below I just tossed out .. put some color on it just because it shows up better then the Monochrome that works for 'blue prints' when this is finished. What fun! :)

progress_1s.png
 
Hi Ed,
I appreciate all your effort and I can see what you mean about the variation from the far back bent to the foreground one with the angled side leg where the back bent is straight.

Oh, for God's sake, I know what was going on, the back of the horizontal tanks were somewhat protected but the front were subject to some very stong winds and hence the need for the angled bent leg om the front bents. LoL The outside legs, I would think, would all be angled for a bit more stability just as with a trustle.


While I like what you've provided I'm looking for standing Verticle tanks that are about the diameter you show in the drawingws you provided. I saw them, actually at least one larger Verticle tank with the rivited steel plates about maybe 6' to 8' in dia. behind the Gas station with about five smaller Verticle tanks in front where customers could be served easily to get whatever the contents contained was such as Kerosene in one 3' dia tank or White gas in another and I think deisel in another.

Wish I had saved the page so I could easily find it again or even saved the photograph. It seems to me I did but I sure can't find it now.

I did see an HO kit that had a couple of 12' to 14' dia. above ground Verticle tanks under a shed roof but forgot who brought the kit out.

Keep up the good work.
 
Is this what you are looking for maybe? Fisher Fuels from Railroadkits.com (first on page). Says that the tank is .. "Rix Products flat top 50,000 gallon storage tank."
 
I posted earlier in this thread about an Oil Storage Tank I found in a book "How oil is used for fuel on locomotives" (Google books) published 1902.

I have been 'translating' the diagram into a Sketchbook 3D model. The reason is that when you do that you can see (in 3D) errors or mistakes .. either in the original or that you make it attempting to read a blurry PDF copy of a book that is 108 years old!

Here is the diagram as appears in the book. It actually has all of the major dimensions.

1902_tank_600px.png


Currently, I have the Trestle and footing completed (spent last bit going over everything).

Trestle_and_footing.png


Have a couple of questions .. hopefully someone can help with.

1. The bents have 1" steel rods through the uprights. The red arrow is pointing to one .. the picture to the right .. I have made the bent transparent so you can see it better. Does anyone know what these would be called? Just curious .. a 'tie rod' is the only thing that comes to mind.

tie_rod.png


2. The footings. It is hard to see in the small copy I posted above of the original diagram .. but the text centered and bottom just to the left where it says 'Fig. 3' talks about the footing. I blew it up here ...

close_up.png


What it says is .. "2 rows (24 ties) 4' long brought to a thickness and crossed, spaced 8". That last bit .. the 8" .. it is hard to tell if that is a 5,6 or 8 .. but .. 12ea 9" wide ties spaced 8" apart comes to 16' 4". The base 12" x 12" of the bent that sits directly on the footing is 16' long so that pretty much tells me that's an 8.

Here's the question. The 4' long .. got that. The two rows .. got that. The 24 ties ... ok .. 12 per row. The ".. brought to a thickness and crossed, spaced .." .. well .. I was like .. huh??

While everything above ground all checks out. The 3D model tells me that whoever drafted the blueprint had to have measured precisely. The footings though .. if you look at the drawing .. they make no sense .. looking at the two views that is. I figure that at best .. the draftsman could only see the tops of the ties and "guessed" at the rest.

Looking at the drawing though .. it "appears" to me .. that the ties are stacked into a crib of some sort or other. I made a 'best guess' and cobbeled together what may have been what he was trying to show. Here's my version of the footing .. on the right is the footing complete .. on the far left the " .. 2 rows (24 ties) 4' long brought to a thickness .." .. and in the center the part that "... and crossed".

footing.png


Any ideas? While I don't intend to model the complete two rows of ties in the footings, I will want to model the top row .. so the pattern does matter.
 
Trussrod said:
Does anyone know if someone makes any models of early small Oil Storage Tanks or a facility for the turn of the Century, 1900's era ?

I'd like them to be verticle if possible and did see one in an old picture showing a Texco gas station and figured if a kit of one kind or another was offered with some piping that would be great and a big help but haven't seen anything?

I'd like to get a couple of tanks, one for Oil and one for Kerosine as that was widely used in the time period and give me two items to deliver for revenue.

I haven't seen any of them so I may wind up having to make them as all that I have seen are very large in size for more modern times.


Any help is appreciated! :)
Click to expand...
Found a website a few minutes ago for M&W Tank Construction Co. They still make bolted tanks! Not for fuel or oil .. but for grain and water. I imagine that a 'tank is a tank' .. and you could use the photos of these modern bolted tanks to replicate the one you want.

Couple of photos from the site ..

10_lg.jpg


2_lg.jpg


as for sizes. They have a chart of 'nominal tank sizes' .. showing Volume (U.S. Gal, Imp. Gal, Liters, Cu. Meters), Inside Dia. and height (Ft.In. and Meters)

Pretty sweet. They have sizes from 4,000 to 2,400,000 U.S. Gal .. figure with those dimensions and the photos you could 'whip together' something to fit any space!
 
Iv'e seen the smaller standing Oil Tanks such as you describe back in Southern Arkansas. The older Oil Pump Jacks would have a small tank adjacent. Once I remembered that .. did a Google search for "Oil Pump Jack tank" ..

http://www.wvsoro.org/resources/pooling_unitization/slide_11.html
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/2333030-oil-pumpjack-and-tank.php?id=2333030
http://www.photographersdirect.com/buyers/stockphoto.asp?imageid=433592
http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle/2007/10/update_extensive_damage_but_no.html
http://energyissues.blogharbor.com/Tank_20Battery_20Cropped_20Oil_20Paint.jpg

I have been gathering the information for this subject and posted it to my blog for anyone interested.
 
The c. 1902 Oil Tank is coming along nicely in Sketchup. I only have to 'bolt down' the saddle .. and add the dome, piping etc. Once it is complete I will create 'blueprints' for it. Fun stuff. Even if you are modeling in the 1950's .. one of these could still be sitting abandoned .. poor dear ...

13March.png
 
Love this tank for some reason. I'm adding piping now .. and having fun doing it. Still have to build the access .. ladders, platforms etc. I mean .. even HO scale guys have to be able to turn valves ...

Overall_View.png


You just see on the front there .. a pipe and valve. That's a Ludlow 6" gate valve .. for feeding the stand pipe (according to the plan)

Gate_valve_plan.png


Anyhoo. Having a great time creating this in 3D. I'll have some plans when finished that should be pretty accurate. Oh .. yeah .. here's a close-up of the gate valve. :)

Gate_Valve.png
 
Say Guys,
The first thing I want to do is to appologize for not being more active in the thread I started. So sorry about that. Just been getting sidetracked, NPI.

I don't know what to say, you've all gone through a lot of trouble to help me look for the Small and very small Verticle tanks I saw and I really appreciate it. Many of the tanks that are available in kit form for Verticle Kerosene Storage Tanks are way to big for the area I have available although when I added on to my layout with a table that extended out about a foot farther than the other tables it gave me two added corner areas to fill in so I have more room to work with now but for my 1890 to 1910 era I'm thinking that a tank or two about 2 to 2.5" 's in diameter and not too tall maybe about 3" 's is more than sufficent as I don't want it to over power the scene. The Bar Mills tanks are even larger than I care to to go in my scene.

I just want a little back woodsy Kerosene facility to keep everybodies laterns burning and their heaters going as well as supplying some gasoline too, oh I almost forgot I guess my deisel track kleaners burn deose; fuel which is something like kerosene but with more oil I think..

As far as the image I once came across it's driving me Nuts looking for it again but that's life.

Ed man, your sure going through a heck of a lot of trouble, although for yourself too I guess, and your cad drawings are really fantastic, I especially like the tank drain and shut off valve, really acurately detailed. Kudos!!

Thanks again,
David
 
This is interesting. From the March 1939 issue of Popular Science. "Gasoline Storage Station for Model Railway". It is on a "miniature gasoline storage station" using paper glued to a cylinder, cardboard and wire. Not oil - but are vertical storage tanks 10' dia x 20' high and a small pump house. Figure at the least is an 'inspirational' source ...

th_GSSphoto.jpg
th_GSSArticle.jpg


Gasoline Storage Station
 
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