To compliment the conversation on the Standard oil terminal at Ackley, Iowa, here are photos of other “oil jobbers” I have run across in the Midwest.  No frills here–these are just photos that you might find useful or interesting.

The three photos below were taken in 2012 at Villa Grove, Illinois across the street from the former C&EI roundhouse, which was still standing at that time.  I took a few detail shots here because the piping to and from the tanks was still painted red, white, blue and green to denote the different types of fuel carried.

The photos below were taken near the former Monon-Milwaukee Road junction in Bedford, Indiana in 2009.  I apologize for the horrible second photo–it looks like I took a photo of the parking lot.  At least it shows–somewhat–the building and the rack of fuel tanks beside it.  This is almost directly across the track from the beautiful Milwaukee Road passenger station.

While I was in Bedford, I photographed another oil jobber near the one pictured above.  This one did not have any tanks (perhaps they were removed earlier) but it had this cool sign that was still legible.  I remember back in the 1970s when scientists thought oil was created from compressed dinosaurs over millions of years.  Even then as a young grade school student, I thought that concept was ridiculous.  Nevertheless, the concept did give us some cool signage.

The three photos below were taken in 2008 in Seymour, Indiana at the location where the east-west Milwaukee Road (which has been abandoned and removed) crossed the north-south PRR Indianapolis – Louisville main line.  The track in the foreground is the former PRR line.  This is about a mile or two north of the crossing over the B&O line.

It looks like this was a Standard Oil terminal.  The building has a familiar Standard Oil look to it.  Note the different sizes and types of tanks.  This facility is clean and well kept and was probably still in use; also note that all the pipe lines were painted white.

The two photos below were taken at Litchfield, Illinois in 2005 on the former Wabash.  I wish I would’ve taken some more detail photos.  Barely discernible in the photo below is a tank car unloading stand, just in front of the building at the fence.  This is a neat, clean facility.  I am not sure if the facility in the second photo was rail served but it is another neat facility and definitely still in use.

The two photos below were taken at Trenton, Illinois in 2004 on the former B&O St. Louis line.  In both photos the pole lines on the far left mark the location of the main track.  Here we have a simple facility: several tanks and a building.  Pipes are routed underground.  There is no indication the facility was ever rail-served, but I’m certain it was at some point due to it’s proximity to the main track.  CSX, by the way, has cut this line as a main track and trains no longer operate here.

The facility shown below was photographed in Casey, Illinois in 2010 on the former PRR St. Louis line, now a CSX route.  The lighting is poor but you can make out multiple sizes of tanks and lots of piping.  Also hidden in the poor lighting at left is a high unloading pipe of some kind, perhaps for trucks or farm equipment.  It is an interesting addition since there is another complete fuel stand at the right (shown in better detail below).

In the photo below of the Casey facility, you can clearly see the different colors of piping that carried the different grades of fuels.  Note the low outlets in the foreground.  These could’ve been used for loading trucks, or unloading railroad tank cars.

The photo above is a great view of the facility, with multiple tanks and pipes going everywhere.  The fuel stand at right was for loading trucks and probably farming vehicles as well, since Casey is in the middle of Illinois corn country.  The photo below shows the stand in a little greater detail.

Finally, below, is this structure that accompanies the tank farm.  It certainly does have that Standard Oil look to it!

One thing I noticed about all the facilities pictures is there is not a lot of clutter strewn about.   These are all old facilities, and some of them are no longer in use.  But there is not a lot of clutter around even at the facilities that appear abandoned.  Some are overgrown with weeds but there is still not junk everywhere.  It’s a good reminder to keep our modeled facilities picked up and organized.