The reason behind those long oil movements by rail in the east during the war years, was due to German submarines lurking off the coast of the USA. This made the usual shipping of crude oil from Gulf of Mexico ports to refineries on the east coast by coastal tank ships impossible, due heavy losses by torpedoes. Pipelines for transmission of oil overland was limited back then and was vastly expanded after WW II. The railroad brotherhoods not happy with that.
