Reducing Wheel Friction

I wouldn't, eventually it will get in to the engine. No good.

I wouldn't think that anyone would want to put ANYTHING on the wheels. Lubricating the AXLE ENDS would definitely be a good idea, however.

Thats what they use on Kadee couplers

The only place I use it is for electrocouplers if I have a problem with a sticky one.

Powdered graphite is messy.  Would it have any advantage over the train oils or Mobil-1?

That is exactly my line of thought.  Obviously it would be applied into the axle receiver on the truck, and in a very small amount.  I also couldn't use the tube that is used for door locks... WAY too much would be applied.  I might test this idea on some old cars and measure the force required to pull them X feet on level track and through a curve with traditional oil, then only graphite.  I really don't think such a small amount would damage anything... and if it does, oh well.  Off to the repair sheds!

A little drop of Labelle's oil works wonders.

There two different situations.  Post war equipment wheels rotate on the axle and, therefore, do not need to slide going around curves.  With this arrangement just a little oil at the wheel hub is all that is needed.  Wheels that are pressed on the axle rigidly require that one wheel slip when going around a curve.  This is because the out side wheel has to go farther to get around the curve that the inside wheel.  On a real train  centrifugal force and the center of gravity being above where the wheel contacts the rail results in the cars trying to tip and putting more downward load on the outside rail. This results in the inside wheel slipping going around curves. The flange on the outside wheel is pushing hard against the rail forcing the truck to go around the curve rather than straight.  This is where the squeal comes from.  A real railroad would lubricate the gauge face of the outside rail to reduce wear and noise.  They use moly, not graphite, suspended in grease. It is difficult to see how this gauge face lubeicant could be put on a model train without also getting all over the running surface of the rail. Graphite is conductive and if it gets spread around your railroad all kinds of electrical problems are likely to develope.

David, let me correct you on how real trains go around corners.  

The wheels on real trains are tapered.  When the train rounds a curve, the wheels move to the outside of the curve, and the taper on the wheels makes the outside wheel larger and the inside wheel smaller.  This causes the wheels to steer around the curve.  When this all works correctly, the flanges never touch the rails.  On sharp curves, the wheels may not have enough taper to steer around the curves, so the railroads have used devices to grease the flanges and/or the inside of the rails.  Several years ago, I was at Tehachapi and there was a greaser in place.  More recently I was there again, and the greaser was gone.  

Lionel has made wheels with a large taper and these wheels are pressed onto the axle.  They go around the curves just like the wheels on real trains.   They also use needle point bearings which have very low friction.  I have some MPC cars with these wheels.

Lionel postwar cars have wheels that are not tapered.  The wheels are not pressed on the axles and turn on the axles.  These wheels depend on the flanges to guide them around curves.  

Mr. Servoguy,  I respectfully disagree with you on the way real railroad wheels get around a curve.  The taper wheel thread theory is a myth.  Passenger car wheels are cylindrical becasue they were made of steel and turned on a lathe.  Fright car wheels were tapered because they were made of case iron and the taper is the draft angle.  All a taper wheel wheel does is promote truck hunting. There are very few trucks that can steer because the axles are held ridgedly parallel by the truck frame.  There is nothing to cause the truck to rotate into the curve other that the flange on the lead axle pushing against the outside rail, so the truck goes around a curve with the axles parallel and neither normal to the rail.  The angle between the flange and the rail is called the angle of attack.  Whether wheels are tapered or cylindrical exist only at the beganning or their life.  They quickly develop a profile that matches the profile of the rail which is a slightly worn hollow contour.  New wheels are not hard enough to retain their original profile. When put in service they develop the rail profile as they are work hardened while rolling under load.

Dr. Fred Blader developed a computer model which predicts the tracking of wheels and trucks.  He licensed this software to the AAR, which they call Nuecar, and is used to model the dynamics of every new type of car before it goes into service.  I have had the opportunity to have Dr. Blader model problem track and trucks and seen the results.

David, I have a fraternity brother from collage who is also a class mate.  He has worked for railroads since he and I graduated in 1963.  He and I both have degrees in mathematics from Rose Hulman Institute of Technology.  We have talked about how trucks are steered around curves, and I believe he knows what he is talking about.  The wheels are steered around the curves by the taper of the wheels.

If the taper did not steer the wheels around curves, and the flanges did the steering, the flange and rail wear would be huge.  You would also hear the flanges singing as they went around a curve.  

MTH trucks have nylon bearings pressed in and do not require lubrication. Most of the others have metal to metal contact and should be lubricated, but as has already been pointed out, graphite is really messy. I prefer synthetic lubricants. LaBelle oil is fine, but I usually use a Teflon-based gun lubricant called Break Free CLP. It it doesn't break down in an FN Minimi at 800 rounds per minute, it's probably good enough for a toy train.

There is a very comprehensive discussion of the history and design of both freight car and passenger car wheels in John White Jr's excellent book "The American Railroad Passenger Car" (pp. 526-540). 

White notes that the Master Car Builders Association adopted the taper of 1 in 20 for freight and passenger car wheels, and that this has remained the industry standard. By 1939 (according to White) cast iron wheels could be produced within 1/64" of circularity, while steel wheels could be machined and ground to within a few thousands of an inch of circularity by the middle 1940s. 

In fact, iron wheels were deliberately cast with a tread taper of 1 in 20 in con formity with the MCBA standard when they were still widely in use (this was not simply the draft angle) and steel wheels are in fact now machined on a lathe (then finished by grinding wheel) to the same taper of 1 in 20.

Well, Volphin. I think you just need the new 096 radius turns when they arrive. take up a little more of right of way and use 072 and 084 until then. You're running scale stuff on small radius curves. Dining room mountain really needs it.

The break-free CLP is not good on ground straps touching the axles. It is not electrically conductive. I use it on pistols and thought it would be good for trains. It's not good for lighted cars or engines. Ask me how I know. it's tough to clean off. Don't ask.

You are right Moon!  I can always use wider radius curves, but the layout is pretty tight right now through the library with 060/072.  

If I could just get rid of those pesky shelves.  And some furniture.  And my wife.  LOL

Anyway, this was simply a brain muse... a "what if"?  Oh well... time to design the upstairs layout for Christmas.  Thanks everyone for the input!