Oiling Locomotives

December 11, 2008

Donald is about to test your knowledge and hopefully get an answer to his question about oiling locomotives:

“Can one of your readers tell me how often and how do I clean and oil my locomotives? They seem to run forever, but then I really don’t run them often, a few hours a couple of days a week at best. How do I oil them them, should I oil them at all? How do I do this? With what? Hopefully one of your readers will know the answer.”

To help Donald add your comments using the green comments link below. Simple!

Robert comments:

Yes, oil locomotives, but not usually freight and passenger cars.

In modeling, the primary purpose of oil is to reduce wear and tear on moving parts, particularly those subjected to intense friction. Locomotives are under constant stress to transmit power and will eventually break without proper lubrication applied to the motor bearings and gears. (It is important to use the correct lubricants on those parts for maximum performance).

Too much or too little lubrication can cause damage. Too much lubricant will saturate the wiring, insulating material and attract a modelers worst enemy – DIRT and DUST!

The resulting effect could shorten the life of your trains electrical components and adversely affect performance. Most at risk are the motor bearings, commutator and the brushes.

Damaged to the commutator and brushes can happen when oil reaches the commutator. This is because the electrical current passing between the brush and commutator will vaporize the lubricant and glaze the brush surface. This causes an increase in resistance between commutator and brush, greatly increasing the arching between the brush and commutator. The consequence of a dirty commutator is that higher voltages will be needed to operate the trains.

It is true that freight and passenger cars have friction points too, but they’re generally under far less stress than locos. Modern day models reduce friction by using acetal plastic side-frames and needlepoint axles. Oiling is unnecessary, because when the oil becomes dirty and breaks down, it actually increases the friction.

More about oiling trains and other useful model railroad tips here.