LOBITOS Petrol/Oil Storage Tanks at Larne

[LARNE CABIN]

Hi there, all you very knowledgeable people. As some of you will know, I am working on a model of Larne Harbour Station, late 60's, early 70's. In some of the photos I have had the privilege to view,  LOBITOS Storage Tanks are prominent and I think I will have sufficient space in one corner of my layout to include at least one tank! Despite extensive searching of the internet etc., I have been unable to find out anything about these tanks. It is natural to assume that petrol/oil was delivered to Larne by oil tanker and stored for onward distribution. Can anyone through any light on this?, in particular was any such petrol/oil transported by rail?

[Broithe]

I can't find any sign of activity on the rails, but:-

 

 

Edit - This picture may actually be from the Big Island.

The 'Lobitos' name is still in use for a tyre depot near Chester, presumably on/near the site of a similar operation to the Larne one.

Edited September 8, 2020 by Broithe

[NIR]

It didn't look particularly rail-served, it was on top of a slight cutting behind a wall or a fence.

Edited September 8, 2020 by NIR

[LARNE CABIN]

Hi @NIR, yes, I agree, it was behind a fence and I didn't expect any link to the railway. In the photo of the jeep that @Irishswissernie posted on my Larne Harbour Station thread it shows at least three storage tanks and a couple are very close to the railway, close enough to include as another unique identifying landmark to Larne Harbour! It just seems strange that there is hardly any information available about Lobitos and it must have been quite an important business at that time!

[Galteemore]

They had Lobitos rail tanks on the big island - I had one in 7mm when I modelled GB stuff! My wife is a Larne girl and my parents in law still live there. My father in law certainly remembers LOBITOS slogan from his youth ‘Less Oil Better Ignition TOp   Speed...’

AFAIK oil by rail was never a big thing in NI. I remember an oil tank wagon which sat at York Road for years but think that was company related and not commercial. There was War Department traffic to a fuel siding near Tillysburn but I’m not sure what the actual flow of traffic was. 

 

 

 

[Old Blarney]

The Distributor for "Lobitos" Petroleum Product in Ireland was Holmes Mullin and Dunn Ltd.  Flicker Image below -  I'm afraid my searches thus far have produced this image only. I can assist with MEX, Maxol, McMullan Bros and through them I may be able to discover whether or not HMD also used rail for the transportation and direct access to Depots. 

 

Edited September 8, 2020 by Old Blarney

[NIR]

19 hours ago, LARNE CABIN said:

Hi @NIR, yes, I agree, it was behind a fence and I didn't expect any link to the railway. In the photo of the jeep that @Irishswissernie posted on my Larne Harbour Station thread it shows at least three storage tanks and a couple are very close to the railway, close enough to include as another unique identifying landmark to Larne Harbour! It just seems strange that there is hardly any information available about Lobitos and it must have been quite an important business at that time!

I had a look at that photo and in the back of my mind I'm thinking the tanks were marked Texaco or something in the 70s.

No, they were likely marked Burmah

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Lobitos_Oilfields

Edited September 9, 2020 by NIR

[Dhu Varren]

2 hours ago, Galteemore said:

AFAIK oil by rail was never a big thing in NI. I remember an oil tank wagon which sat at York Road for years but think that was company related and not commercial. There was War Department traffic to a fuel siding near Tillysburn but I’m not sure what the actual flow of traffic was. 

 

I remember that the ESSO depot in Derry was rail connected from the Londonderry Port & Harbour Commissioners lines, but I suspect that oil traffic was only outbound from there, possibly to destinations on the Derry Road of the GNR. Inbound oil traffic would have been directly off coastal oil tankers docked at the quay next to the ESSO depot. The Lobitos Depot was a few hundred yards further along the quay, but  it did not have a rail connection.

[airfixfan]

There was a lot of oil traffic from the 1920s from Victoria Road to County Donegal in the CDR. You often see photos of steam trains at Victoria Road with a couple of oil wagons behind a 2 coach train to Strabane.

[airfixfan]

See below

[LARNE CABIN]

Thanks for your info @Old Blarney. I'm really kicking myself now because at one time I had the "Trackside in Ireland" set of vehicles which included a Holmes, Mullin & Dunn Tanker. Unfortunately, I sold it on eBay a number of years ago. Nonetheless, that information 're distribution is very interesting.

[minister_for_hardship]

14 hours ago, Galteemore said:

 My father in law certainly remembers LOBITOS slogan from his youth ‘Less Oil Better Ignition TOp   Speed...’

 

 

 

 

The long defunct R.O.P. (Russian Oil Products) aka Rotten Old Petrol.

[Old Blarney]

Lobitos -Larne - 

Holmes Mullin and Dunn Ltd.

Excellent aerial photographs on this site - Drag this image down.

https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/XAW040442

[Galteemore]

What a brilliant photo. Really good view of how the station was split by the roadway. Much of scene still recognisable today. I think the tank farm is now a car park. Olderfleet Hotel bottom left sat derelict for many years before demolition-a small portion remains. 

[Old Blarney]

2 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

What a brilliant photo. Really good view of how the station was split by the roadway. Much of scene still recognisable today. I think the tank farm is now a car park. Olderfleet Hotel bottom left sat derelict for many years before demolition-a small portion remains. 

Become a member of this site- It allows you access to their Library and - You can explode the images too.

[jhb171achill]

Fascinating pic - and is that a line of B & L narrow gauge open wagons in the background?

I remember Lobitos well - I think I recall petrol station signs - did they do petrol as well as oil? 

Burmah was very much a "high street" petrol station brand in the 1960s and 70s, along with "Mex", "Shell" and "BP", and if we go back to the early 60s and before, "MS" (Munster Simms). MS had yellow and grey signs....

Lobitos products were never carried by rail in Ireland. As mentioned above, the CDR carried some - I think they had up to five tank wagons, and these were numbered in a series the same as the several that the GNR had.

With these small few exceptions, transport of petroleum products in tankers in Ireland was very much rarer than in Britain. Oil in canisters used to be carried, at one stage, in open wagons.

[LARNE CABIN]

Thanks again @Old Blarney, as @Galteemore says, "What a brilliant photo"! Very, very useful to gain perspective for my project. Lots of Narrow Gauge wagons and the Aluminium Works, so probably 1930's/40's!  Yes, @Galteemore, the tank farm is now a P & O Ferries Car Park and the site of the Olderfleet Hotel is now the Olderfleet Bar and Lounge and a lot of work has been done on it over the past number of months to upgrade it. The signal, just before the crossing barrier is actually a Somersault Signal, as opposed to the main signals being Upper Quadrant, (l have a few photos that show it clearly in the 'off' position), and although this is just beyond the limit of my layout I hope to show it in the distance on a backscene, and a bit of that house just beside it. I'll better stop now, as I'm getting carried away! Thanks again.

[Broithe]

13 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

I think I recall petrol station signs - did they do petrol as well as oil?

 

 

This undated picture is in Drumbeg, Co Down. Possibly late 1960s, based on the car* and what looks like no motorcycle helmet.

* Sunbeam Alpine?

The picture was missing, but I don't seem able to edit any more - hopefully it will be here now.

[Broithe]

 

 

At last...

[jhb171achill]

THAT's it! Yes, I remember them well. Just not on the railway!

I had an uncle who was a sales rep for Castrol, so these things stick in my mind...........

[airfixfan]

The CDR had 9 oil tank wagons in total built in 1923 by the MRC&W Company. 337 to 340  were initially Shell and 341 to 345 were Esso when ordered.