Hi,
  Here is what I remember - growing up in a small town in Washington State.

  Gas and Diesel came to town in both tank cars (more) and trucks and was
delivered to an oil dealer.  From the oil dealers it went out to gas stations
and such - nearing the end of this list we started to see "Truck Stops"
becoming a much bigger deal than before.  It was an every day sight to
see a tank car spotted at the Standard dealer and a fleet of trucks coming
and going for local deliveries.  Just a few miles East of Anacortes were
the agricultural areas of the Skagit Valley which had their own dealers.
  In the early and middle 50's we had 2 refineries that were built just outside
of town.  These brought in crude from Alaska and shipped out a variety of
products by tank cars (more) and trucks.  I do not remember them shipping
out finished product in the same tanker ships that brought in the crude - but
that may have been done (to get product up to Alaska).
  Sorry, but I don't remember where the next closest refineries were.

  I think of this as the basic model for oil and gas in the 50's - all across the
U.S. - in this era.  Correct?
                                                                                        - Jim in the PNW