Bowling Oil Terminal

Location type

Works

Name and dates

Bowling Oil Terminal (1918-1996)

Served by the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway.

Description

This oil terminal was west of Bowling, just west of Dunglass Castle by Dunglass Rock. It was built on the reclaimed north bank of the River Clyde - when the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway opened in 1850 the shoreline was moved to the south of the railway embankment leaving marshy land to its north. The oil terminal began to be laid out in 1919 following the successful opening of the Admiralty's Mountblow Oil Terminal just to the east by Old Kilpatrick. The Bowling terminal, built originally to supply oil to merchant ships, had several jetties, oil storage tanks stretching east from the jetties east to Bowling Shipyard along the shoreline (south of the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway), further tanks between the C&DR and the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway, tanks on the hillside above, over the A82, to the north and sidings. From being an oil bunkering location it became a large depot receiving oil from refineries by sea and providing it to depots all over the Central Belt.

The sidings were originally on the south side of the C&DR, approached from the west. Further sidings, reached by reversal from these ran to the west. Further sidings yet were on the south side of the L&DR, approached from the west. After the C&DR was closed to the west it was retained as far west as the L&DR overbridge as sidings for the terminal.

The terminal had its own shunter. Oil was delivered from here to various locations such as Granton, Invergordon, Kincardine Power Station, Lairg, Oban and the Ardeer ICI factory at Imperial Chemical Industries.

It closed to rail traffic in the late 1980s, remained until the 1990s and is now derelict and awaiting new uses.

Wagons dumped at the west end of the former C&DR were a familiar sight to commuters for many years, easily viewed from the still open L&DR on a bridge above.

Tags

Oil terminal oil tanks sidings

Aliases

Dunglass Oil Terminal

External links

Canmore site record
NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
NLS Map
04/10/2023


News items

11/08/2023City Deal approval for £44m project at former Clyde oil terminal [BBC News]
21/10/2022Clydebank: Five-day railway closure for work on new underpass at Exxon site [Clydebank Post]
15/01/2021£34m transformation of former ExxonMobil site given green light [Scottish Construction Now]
09/10/2020Transfer of ExxonMobil site paves way for major industrial and commercial development [Scottish Construction Now]

Books


The Vanished Railways of Old Western Dunbartonshire (Britains Railways/Old Photos)