Re: Fuel Oil Facilities

The Nevada-California-Oregon Ry. had at least one interesting way to handle its fuel oil. There were two transfer trestles at Wendel, Calif. Standard gauge cars were spotted on a trestle and the oil fed by gravity into narrow gauge cars. The cars were then reportedly put in the next freigh train north, where they were spotted on a siding several miles north before being taken back to Wendel. One ex-employee said this was so the N-C-O could share in the freight rate for the shipment of the oil.
The cars were then spotted on another transfer trestle, where the oil was fed by gravity into loco tenders. These special tank cars had oil spouts permanently attached to the cars to make the fueling process easier. There were several other such transfer trestles along the N-C-O.
Tom Armstrong