Air Ministry Fuel Reserve Depot - Northfields Lane Brixham

[DCCDave]

I am researching Aviation Fuel storage depots which existed during WW2.

The large depots, known as Aviation Fuel Reserve Depots were usually located near ports and received fuel by ship tanker, stored and dispatched it by tanker train to Aviation Fuel Distribution Depots located inland, adjacent to railways, which received fuel by rail tanker and dispatched it by road tanker to customer military airfields.

In practice, these depots had either a parallel siding with the main line with the fuel transfer station, or had dedicated siding(s) running into the depot.

So, the railway link was important and visible.

I am trying to identify the layout of the Fuel Reserve Depot and am looking for old photos of the site. I have found a couple of references in a book by C.R Potts "The Brixham Branch" and have a couple of Aerial Photographs of the site but without any detail.

Can any of you rail enthusiasts point me at some photographs?

 

[Gloster]

You may already have the following information:

The Air Ministry Sidings, possibly also called Northfield Sidings, were on the south side of the line. No 1 Ground Frame was at 226m. 38ch. and No 2 at 226m. 48ch. They consisted of a loop siding with at least one siding leading off the west end and another, possibly short, as a head shunt at the east end; all the points were within the railway’s boundaries. The sidings were taken into use 23 October 1940. (Source: Track Layouts of the G.W.R. amd BR W.R.; R.A.Cooke; Self published; Date unknown (Second print).)

An entry on Rmweb, found by googling fuel reserve depot brixham , comments that the fuel was pumped through a pipeline from the breakwater to the depot in the old quarry and then on to the sidings.