How to oil my locos

[lablvr211]

Long story short.....I have 2 steam locos the Jupiter and the Smokey Mountain that have not been run in over 2 yrs. I need to know the proper way to oil these 2 locos. Are there instruction booklets online that I can download?
Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[Doneldon]

lab-

Servicing locomotives which haven't been run for two years is an excellent idea. What lubrication is still in there might well have moved from the bearing surfaces, become contaminated with dirt or impurities from the air or just dried out. Your locos will probably run OK for a while without lubing but performing the service before running them is the right way to go.

That said, the first two things to keep in mind are that you must use oils and greases which are plastic compatible and you should use less than the bare minimum you think will work. As for the plastic compatibility, remember that most plastics are petroleum based so most petroleum-based lubricants will attack or slowly dissolve them. Even if your gears and bearings are metal or nylon, the lubes will get onto other plastic parts sooner or later and damage them. And do use only the tiniest quantities of lubricants. More isn't helpful as it will get swept off of the contacting surfaces anyway and then will just pick up dirt or migrate to other parts of your models, harming their appearance and possibly function. So ... imagine the least quantity you think will work and then use half of that.

You'll want to lubricate all surfaces which move against other surfaces. This includes motor shaft supports; gears; gear axle bearings; wheel bearings; main, side and connecting rods on steam engines; valve gear on steam engines; wheel bearings and attachment points for pony or trailing trucks on steam engines; pivot points for trucks on diesel and electric engines; and all rail or wheel wipers. Does that sound like a discouraging list of places to work on? Well, it needn't be. For one thing, no locos are steam, diesel and electric all at once so every lube point mentioned won't be found on every locomotive. And once you have your loco in the service cradle and are doing the job it really goes pretty fast.

Use grease on gears if you want but you can use oil on all points if that is your preference. This can get a little involved if you must do major surgery to get inside a loco or disassemble power trucks. Take your time, keep different kinds of screws separate and you'll do just fine. Oil can be used for the rest. Be sure to use conductive oil on electricity conducting surfaces so you don't limit conductivity. The places to watch are wheel wipers, axle bearings and attachment points (when trucks are not wired to the electrical system but pass power through to the frame or a split frame).

While you are working on your locomotives, lube tenders, too, and check your couplers. If they don't move smoothly in their pockets,
squirt a _little graphite into them and on the spring on the knuckle.

                                                                                                   -- D