Lubricating your trains!

You'll get lots of opinions on this - everything from Vaseline to aerospace lubricants.  As some say, any lubricant is better than nothing at all.

I had a foreman tell me that back in my beginning days of working in an oil refinery, but when we were out of steam cylinder lube we needed steam cyl lube! Already knew what you posted, but I'm figuring that there is a"New Kid" on the block, that's better than what we've used in days gone by! Just wondering what most of the folks were using now? I was raised in the "My Greek Wedding" family. Mom used 3-n-1 oil, old man used Windex!.....

this is what I and a lot of other club members use.

labelle

a little goes a long way.

I now prefer ExCell Lubricants, instead of LaBelle. The ExCell line has many more heavier lubes for the side rods on my steam locomotive models. 

Brandy,

I use both the Red-n-Tacky and the gun oil. I have no complaints against either. The gun oil is used by the military in automatic weapons. It too is used sparingly as a little bit goes a long way.

I have a tub of wolfs head red grease that i have had for a number of years,has anyone ever used it to lubricate their engines?

I haven't used automotive bearing grease (such as Wolfs Head), but I have had trains on my bench that were lubed with what appeared to be Wolfs Head.

I typically use Labelle 106, on occasion I use Red N Tacky for grease.

I have an assortment of oils including various Labelle products.

I prefer to use a light oil on sintered bearings, something a bit heavier elsewhere.

If the current owners of Wolf's Head lube cannot confirm that their product is plastic safe, why would you consider using it?

Here is an article on lubricating plastic gears. It has some information about the compatibility between plastics and lubricants.

I've read a few different articles / papers on the subject. It's my impression that when there is an issue, it often will not surface right away. The problems develop over time.

A tube of Labelle 106 grease lasts a long time on my workbench.

I have used La Belle oils for years with good results.  Also have used lubriplate grease for engine gears or LaBelle gear oil.  Now I'm just using a 20/ 40 weight 3 in 1 oil for car wheels and axles.

Ray

C  W  Burfle,it wasn't the current owners that i spoke to it was the former owners,but regardless i only asked because i already have a tub of wolfs head red grease, why buy anything if what i already have would work just as good,regardless if it is grease or anything else, if i can't find out for sure that wolfs head is compatible with plastic,then i will buy a tube of red n tacky. The link on lubrication tips for plastic gears was interesting,i printed it out for my future reference.  Thanks for your response.

I use motor oil for everything, and I have for 60 years.  It never dries out and I have never had a problem with plastic.  Do not use 3 in 1 oil, WD-40, lubriplate, light machine oil.  Problem with light oils is they dry out and leave a gummy residue.  Motor oil never dries out.  Many greases dry out and leave a hard residue.  

Good topic.  I "try" to lubricate my motive power periodically, but on occasion, when I have been running other engines regularly, or none at all because I'm doing some major work on the layout, I have found an engine that sat in one place for several years, would not work.  Engine in point was a Weaver VO1000 switcher that I just had not used for probably three, maybe four years.  This morning when I tried to get it out of the engine house, it would barely move.  Just crawl along very very slowly no matter how far I turned up the controller.  The engine is TMCC equipped.

Well, finally I took it over to the work bench cradle and took a look at the underside.  Nothing untoward there, but one axle seemed to be very tight.  I looked for something that  might have crept up around the axle but couldn't see anything.  Finally, I tried putting some oil on the axle and then moving it back an forth. Finally it began to loosen up a bit and when I returned it to the track, the engine ran perfectly. 

Is it really possible that the lubricant (I use a synthetic 20 grade oil) had dried enough to prevent the axle from turning properly?  I could find no other restriction on the axle movement and the fresh oll seemed to take away the problem.

Paul Fischer

Over-night submersion in 50-50 mixture of Havoline 20W-50 and Bardahl's No-Smoke to fully lube all bearings followed by a generous slathering of Lubriplate 90W lithium grease on of the the gears. While all the trains are soaking, it's a good time to clean the crud of the tracks.

No, just kidding, just kidding!

I use 30w non-detergent motor oil on bearings and and axles and such and LaBelle 106 grease on gears.

I use "Liquid Bearings" here. 

No residue, no "gunk" build-up.  No smell.  No staining. Top quality 100% synthetic lubricant.  Does not break down up to 400 degrees F.   Use on all moving parts.  Pharmeceutical-quality precision tip.  Use a tiny drop - a little goes a long way.  Completely safe for use with all plastics, rubber, neoprene, paint.  Does not attract dirt or contaminants.  Extremely long lasting - you won't need to lube as often.

Good stuff.  

For oil, I used to use something called Marvel mystery oil, which was a tophead lubricant you could add to engine oil.For grease on gears I used a dow silicon high temp grease, that back then was really, really expensive (friend of my dad's had given him a lot of it), and it worked great.

That said,with modern engines with all the plastic gearing and such, I would use things like labelle or other ones designed for trains. It doesn't mean other things won't work, but I would be afraid of various greases and oils causing havoc on plastic parts. Plus a lot of those products are designed not to cause build up that can get dirt to gunk up...among other things, lubes like Labelle and others will last a long. long time, because you use them very sparingly. 

Hmm, on the other hand, wonder if you can treat bearings and gears with slick50 and never have to lube them again...after all, anyone remember the ads where they drained the engine oil and the engine just kept running *lol* (seriously, folks, don't try it, I was being funny...)

The most important thing, IMHO, is to use something that doesn't dry out.  Motor oil has a very low vapor pressure (10^-2 mm Hg at 100C) which means it will last forever.