The now vanished oil terminal at Earley - does anyone know its history - when it opened, when it closed, what it served, why there's a very lengthy footbridge that crosses the station and the dual carriageway to the north (and when that was built...), it would be good to know anything about the activities there - apart from circumstances surrounding the discovery of radioactive contamination on the land after the site was redeveloped that is.

Mark

 
Ah, regarding the long footbridge, we have this. (There's a tender out for its replacement.)

https://rdg.today/earley-bridge-tender-launched/

Mark

 
For many years Earley station was my nearest connection to the railway.

The dual carriageway opened in 1974 and was then known as the A329M.   Its opening was delayed by a year after some workmen were killed a short distance from the station when the bridge over the River Loddon collapsed.  That was the first time I remember seeing something local on the television news.   As a further aside the road was renamed the A3290 in the 1980s when a bus lane was installed to assist the opening of the nearby park and ride.  Evidently in those days you could not have a bus lane on a motorway.   The part of the road north east of the park and ride remains known as the A329M.  Prior to the bridge and road being built there was a foot crossing to the left of the main station building at Earley.

There were two oil depots at Earley run by Shell.  The original one was built on the north side of the line but when the motorway was constructed it was moved to the south side.   Access to it was, in later years, via a ground frame after the signalbox at the station closed in 1973.

The oil terminal closed in 1988 and a housing estate built on the site. 

 

It may be logical for WBC to call this footviaduct (it's a bit long for a bridge) their "Earley station footbridge". But it's not Earley station's "Earley station footbridge". That's a much more modest affair - only one span rather than eight.

I note that the existing one has those worst-of-both-worlds stepped ramps (or ramped steps). I think those are now deprecated, so I wonder what they will be replaced with.

 
Another "Earley" branch, off the Paddington main line, to Earley power station; https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Earley_Power_Station. The opening of which was at about the same time as the Burghfield ordnance factory https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1077758&resourceID=19191. Presumably to ensure there was enough power for wartime production in the Reading area.

 

Alarmingly, it's a bridleway, finding this caused me to look up the weight of the average horse (many are 500Kg...) I don't suppose that bridge will see very many though.

Mark

 

Yes, here's an article from the local paper that confustulates the two - with quotes from Network Rail as though that body was under the impression that it was being asked about the station footbridge (for which it is responsible) rather than the long bridleway bridge across both rail and road, which is not Network Rail's immediate responsibility.

Mark

https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/23064409.call-train-station-footbridge-replaced-earley/

 
Used to be my 'local' too, when we lived in Lower Earley, then Woodley - used it for my commute to Bath, when I didn't fancy the run/ride into Reading.

IIRC the road at the end of the footviaduct on the other side of the A3290 doubled as an informal, free, station car park. Handy if you didn't mind the short walk/climb.

 
From the BBC:

 
This time it is the station footbridge. The striking point about it is that the new one is to the same general design as the old, to the point of having the same pattern of  bracing members. Obviously it's not improving access, and moreover it will not be possible to "just" add lifts later. But NR are clearly only interested in a quick and cheap* answer to their problem, i.e. that it's rusty and bits are likely to fall off.

*as much as anything they do is, but certainly much cheaper

 
The hairier Earley footbridge features in this document from Wokingham Borough Council. A repair to it is in the pipeline, to extend its life by 15 years. A list of risks includes that once repairs are under way, elements of the bridge may be found to be in worse condition than previously thought.

Mark

https://wokingham.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s81089/Capital%20Monitoring%20202526%20-%20Q2.pdf