On the underside of the locomotive where the wheels are, aka trucks, you'll see a set of gears either on one set or both sets of trucks put a dab of lithium grease or red and tacky grease on each of the gears.  Only use a small dab, don't want too much.  The use a thin oil like 3 in 1 ,put a drop on each axle along with a drop on the pick up rollers.  That's about all there is to the lubrication.

Watch this ---

https://www.lionel.com/Custome....cfm?documentID=6337

Here is another video on lubrication and cleaning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RAg1QXXxBg

Thanks guys.

It seems that this locomotive is relatively simple to lubricate.

I just purchased a used K-Line GG1 on Ebay and I'm waiting for it to arrive.  I asked the seller about lubrication and he recommended that I lubricate it before I use it.  Something tells me that this will be a bit more difficult to lubricate so I'll get back to you when it arrives.

Thanks a lot,

Bob

one thing to keep in mind with our trains and something I have a hard getting across to other club members is;

A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY!!!

excess just drips off all over the track.

I have a K-Line GG1, and just lubed it Sunday.  It was as easy as the ones Mike did in his video.  It'll be like the 4-4-2 with the open gears, only with twice the axles.  But unlike Mike and others, I did put some grease on the gears.  You can't spin the wheels by hand like he could on that 4-4-2, but I put grease on the gear teeth on the bottom and then ran it slowly on the track for a couple laps forward and backward to get it on all the gears.

As for greasing external gears, there seem to be two camps here; one says no, for the reasons Mike lists in his video as a basis, and the other says yes, like me.  The reason I say yes is because I have found it to improve the performance.  I currently run on FasTrack on the floor, and I have 2 cats.  I have not had any issues with too much hair and fibers in the gears.  Could be because the track has a closed built-in base, but IDK.  I have had to spend more time pulling hair out of the connecting rods on my steamers then I ever have getting hair out of gears.  Most of my external geared locomotives would either be okay or jerky when trying to run at low speeds.  But after greasing the gears, not not could they now run smoothly, but they could also go even slower.  So now I grease all my gears.  And I wish all gears were external because of it, as taking a engine completely apart to get grease in the internal gears is a pain.  And I have not had issues with getting grease on the tracks.

One area of any locomotive either diesel or steam is the motor/truck worm drive gears.  You have to do a little more in-depth dis-assembly to gain access to this area.  But I believe it is the most important to keep lubricated.

It usually means removing the motor from truck or engine frame.  The motor gear and truck drive gear then becomes exposed and both can be greased.  I found that is is also easier to oil diesel axle's at this time also. 

If taking apart a locomotive for the first time, just remove and organize parts as you take them off and re-assemble in reverse order.  Don't be afraid to dig in.  Just take your time, don't rush, and keep track of all parts large and small.

Don't forget to oil pick up rollers......sparingly. 

Steve, Lady and Tex

welcome aboard Bob. Tex is correct, the worm gears need to be looked at. in my experience I have found a dab of grease on the gear box, but not necessarily on the gears. I see you are in NJ, if you are having any problems with it come to NJHR club any Wednesday and we can look at it.

I would recommend you lube the loco with motor oil 5W-20 or 10W-30.  Do not use grease, 3 in 1 oil, WD-40, Lionel Lube, light machine oil, as these all dry out and get hard or sticky.  I put a 2025 loco in the closet in 1965.  It had been lubed with Valvolene 20W-40.  When I took it out of the closet about 5 years ago, it ran just fine.  The oil was still oil, not hard or gummy.  

Motor oil has a vapor pressure <0.01 mm of Hg (mercury) at 212 F  This is very low.  For comparison, water has a vapor pressure of 760 mm Hg at 212 F.

 Lubriplate has a vapor pressure more than 100 times as high as motor. That means it is going to evaporate fairly quickly leaving behind a hard residue.  So you can use it if you want to, but you will become an expert at cleaning the hard residue out of your locos.

I could not find any data for LaBelle products, and since no data is available, I will not use them.  

I don't have any data for Lucas Red and Tacky, and until data is available, I will not use it.  I looked up the MSDS for Red and Tacky, and there is no information about the vapor pressure, so it is definitely off my list.

I am an engineer with 50 years of experience, and we engineers use test data, not opinions.

John,

Where is your club located?

Bob

I agree with servoguy, except that I use Castrol Syntec 10w40. I contacted the company, and was assured that the Syntec is safe for plastic gears. Thus far I have had no trouble with my locos or any of my regulars. 

185 6th Ave, Paterson NJ.

You can plug it into Google Maps and use the Street View function to view the building entrance--the club even has its logo on the awning

---PCJ

I go through well tons of grease each year, farm equipment has a way of demanding a lot of grease. You can say I go through more lubricants than most people in a year than they will in their life time. No I'm not an expert but after all this time I know what will work in my applications that are pretty demanding.

I have used all types of grease and their is just no magic grease. The key is to use grease and make sure it doesn't get hard like some of the old white grease did in the old Lionel trains. I tend to use what we have on hand in the maintenance shed and it has all worked with never an issue with gears in my trains. Just check your trains once a year. I do grease exposed gears though I can not tell you if it makes a difference or not.

When it comes to light oil I do prefer a model oil such as LaBelles. I see nothing wrong with using motor oil either, I know it works great on my reloading press rams.  We also use a ton of motor oil for just about any exposed metal on the farm. It stops the rust but sometimes it does gum up if it sits for a long time or exposed to air. I can't explain it but it does. Sometimes it reminds me of what the old 3-1 oil does.

With that all said just keep the trains lubricated and check them at least once a year. Maybe more if you are running them every week. Lubrication will work if you actually do it.

Let me explain something more about my situation.  I have about 100 locos and 400+ cars.  I am not about to clean and lube all the locos every year.  Way too much work.  I want a lubrication procedure that doesn't have to be repeated very often.  Motor oil gives me that procedure.  The other lubricants, for the most part, don't.  Since I have found that motor oil works well, why should I use anything else?

I use Labelle lubricants, and occasionally use Red N Tacky.

I wouldn't change either Servoguy if it works then it works. I have seen recommendations of checking engines that run each year and those that sit every three years. So is there a best time or schedule? I guess there is but nailing it down to an exact is probably harder. My only real point is to make sure they are lubricated and I don't think for the most part the brand is all that important. I certainly would consider using plastic compatible lubricants though.

I do check any engine that has not been used in a year prior to running it along with all new purchases. Then I also check grease my daily runners each year. Thus an engine that is not run may go for a few years without being checked.

I should have been more clear when I said check them every year above.

I can't tell you if this is correct but it works for me.

Hi All,

I just received the K-Line GG-1 locomotive that I purchased on Ebay.  I was surprised to learn that it has only one motor but the gearing is in place for another motor.

I presume that this is normal and I can install another motor if I so choose.

Please advise me on this.

Thank you,

Bob

K-Line 2780-4892 Pennsylvania GG-1 Electric Locomotive "4892