Page 2 - hb1713_2

R.L.W.

Pioneer Oil Refinery: California Star Oil Works kit #RLW-1680

· If laid out per the vague survey information and Google Earth aerial photos, modeling the refinery including the Andrew’s spur
warehouse and tank car loading platform would require a space about four feet by four feet (4’ X 4’) in N scale. Condensed site plans
are included which compress the plant to a space more usable on model railway layouts and modules.
· The SP plat of Andrew’s shows the warehouse on the west side of the spur, while a photograph of the warehouse from around 1880
taken from the hill above the refinery shows the warehouse on the east side of the spur; the provided site plan follows the evidence of
the photo. See “SITE” section for dimensioned site plan showing existing and assumed structures and contours.
· The pump engine in the existing pump house is a Fairbanks Morse 12HP single cylinder internal combustion “hit and miss” engine
fired by natural gas and made in 1908. It is assumed the previous engine was steam-powered from the adjacent boiler. A single
cylinder steam engine approximately the same size and of the same general configuration of the F-M engine is provided in the kit and
instructions are provided on how to modify this to simulate the F-M engine if you want to model the later installation.
· There are currently two steel storage tanks on the site, but are reportedly not original to the refinery operations. Multiple and
conflicting information is provided on the sizes and number of crude oil tank(s) which were on the site during the period of
significance. There was also a water storage tank on the site. Two steel storage tanks of dimensions and capacities similar to the
existing tanks are included in the kit: one 2,750 gallon (65 bbl.) capacity and one 6,900 gallon (164 bbl.) capacity. For purposes of
these instructions, the larger is assumed to be the water tank.
· The website www.elsmerecanyon.com suggests piping supplying the oil storage tanks originally ran through the small existing
building on the hill between the oil and water tanks. The interior photo shows what appears to be the top of a well – perhaps the source
of the water pumped from this site to the wells in Pico Canyon – and it is labeled “Well House” in these instructions. Whatever the
use, the framing of the window suggests it was built prior to 1900. However, the cement board siding does not appear to be original.
Based on the corrugated iron roofing, and similarity of interior framing, it is assumed the exterior of this building was corrugated iron
siding similar to the Pump House construction during the period of significance.
· The location of the Tail House is derived from a historic photo taken from beyond Still 4; there is no remaining traces of this building.
· The product tanks currently appear to be resting on the ground, but in fact are partially enveloped in dirt washing down the hill side.
Brick is visible in a hole at one side of one of the tanks, leading to the assumption the tanks were originally supported on a brick base
or brick piers. There are no known photos of these tanks during the period of significance, so the configuration represented in the
model is pure supposition.
· A tank car loading platform was built on the Andrew’s/SP spur sometime after 1882 and is barely visible through the trees beyond the
refinery in a photo taken in 1930, showing a wood-framed structure. Plans for the separate tank car loading platform kit (RLW-1681)
were developed from another historic photo of a Standard Oil Company wood-framed tank car loading and unloading platform of the
same period. It is not known if the warehouse and tank car platform were on the site at the same time, or if the warehouse was
demolished before the tank car loading platform was constructed. It is likely there was overlap, as some products were still refined here
and shipped to Alameda for further refining after tank car shipments of crude had started from Andrew’s spur.
· Piping beyond what is shown in the few historic and the current photos, and as diagrammed by Don Ball in his article in Model
Railroader is conjectural; the historic documents – while describing the refining process used at this site – do not go into details of the
piping. The only description of how refinery products got from the two storage tanks between the Tail House and Pump House to the
Warehouse, where it was loaded into box cars for shipment (presumably in smaller containers) is as shown on a model in the Heritage
Junction Historic Park Inside William S. Hart Park in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California. (See “PIPING”.)
Acknowledgements:
Thanks to: Don Ball, whose Model Railroader article inspired this kit, and who supplied several previously unpublished photos; Leon
Worden, Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society; Rick Gould, Director of Parks, Recreation, and Community Services, and Tom Reilly, Park
Development Administrator, City of Santa Clarita, who provided access to the site and survey information; Stan Walker, whose web site
www.elsmerecanyon.com is an invaluable resource.
References:
· Stan Walker’s Elsemere Canyon Web Site: http://www.elsmerecanyon.com/pioneerrefinery/pioneerrefinery.htm
· “Pioneer Oil Refinery, Registered Landmark #172 – California Historical Landmark Series” by Lois Ann Woodward, 1936, State of
California Department of Natural Resources Division of Parks under auspices of Works Progress Administration District #8, Project
#65-3-3218 symbol #1873
· The Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society: http://www.scvhistory.com/
· “Build an 1880’s Oil Refinery” by Don Ball, Model Railroader August 2012, pg. 28
· Oil refinery, Erie, Pa. [New York: Surdam & White, 305 Broadway, 187] Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress,
<https://www.loc.gov/item/2008679002/>

© 2016 Republic Locomotive Works 1680 – pg. 2