In our rebuild of Alaska Railroad #557 we would like to add additional automatic oiling points to the running gear. Our locomotive was fairly austere and relied on a walk-around with an oil can for much of the lubrication. Looking at a Nathan booklet on their DV lubricators, the course of action 70 years ago would have been to go to our local Nathan store and pick up a handful of four-way oil distributors, type 3515. (These are positive displacement distributors that split the delivery from one lubricator feed into four equal feeds.)

Is there anything available today that serves the same function? Our application is for low pressure lubrication to the running gear. Or does anyone have a handful of the Nathan type 3515 distributors that need to go to a new home?

There are several suppliers for lubrication dividers:
http://www.bijurdelimon.com/us/sA/spain/products/product-type/distribution-elements/dividers.html
https://www.graco.com/us/en/vehicle-service/products/on-vehicle-automatic-lubrication/flow-divider-valves/divider-valves.html

2 that came up in a google search

I would advise avoiding the Bijur lubricators for this service, as someone who has rebuilt Machine shop machinery, which those units are designed for, it will be a bad fit. They are designed for indoor use with medium to light oil and clog easy.

No experience with the Graco ones, though they look like they might be a better fit.

If anything I would say talk to the people at UP Steam, as I am sure they needed to replace a few dividers and other lubrication equipment on the 4014 and their other 2 active steamers. Other places I would think might lead you in the right direction would be Strasburg, Steamtown, Valley RR, Cumbres & Toltec, Nevada Northern, and others that actively rebuild and run steam trains.

Good luck,
Rich C.

Thanks for the suggestions and comments. Knowing what to look for gets us going in the right direction.

If I may be so bold, I am curious as to why the team objects to the oil can approach? Anything to learn or share on that? Was low oil damage found during the re-build? How far, fast, and often will it run?

I guess I can understand the increase in more modern "mechanical" lubrication if the locomotive is in heavy service. Other than that, I tend to be more "old school" and would rather walk around and lay my eyes on the machinery, spring rigging, etc. as I oil. It encourages not only addressing the lubrication points, but also a good inspection of the locomotive in general. I have found many things that could have been a concern that I wouldn't have always noticed if I wasn't "oiling around".

Mike Ramsey

No disagreements about a walk around. Since all of the oil lines are being replaced, this is the time to make any upgrades. Adding additional feeds would speed the oiling process but not eliminate use of an oil can.

The locomotive design as configured for Europe had two DV-3 lubricators. An 8-feed fed lube oil to each of the eight driver journals. A 6-feed fed cylinder oil to each cylinder, each valve, and each guide. A modification made at Baldwin for the the locomotives destined for Alaska added two feeds from the cylinder oil lubricator to the two front truck journals. (Originally, oil cups were also fitted to all of the rods ends, but these were long ago replaced with grease fittings.)

This is just my thought, but it seems that a continuous, metered oil supply would be better than to have lots of oil at the beginning of a trip and expect there would always be adequate oil at the end of the trip. it's also possible that there is less chance of getting contaminants in the bushings with oil fed from a lubricator.

There was damage to one of the lead truck bearings from a lack of oil, worn suspension, and broken springs that put extra weight on one wheel. No telling when it happened but the defects are all being corrected to bring the suspension back to original specs. There were many suspension points that were badly worn due to poor oiling and choice of materials. Pins were typically case hardened but many rode in mild steel holes. These aren't proposed for automatic oiling, but the holes are being bored and bushed with case hardened bushings.

As for service, it will be only a few miles at low speed to begin with. A long term goal is to be able to operate it on a 50 mile excursion at up to 40 mph, the design speed of the locomotive.

Dick - hard bushings in mild steel housings will eventually wear the mild steel loose around the hard bushing. I had to overhaul all the valve gear on a Shay that had been hard bushed for that reason. The softer bushing you can use will provide a sacrificial wear surface easily replaced relative to rebuilding the hole around it down the line.

Unless you plan on long intensive hard runs, I'm with Mike on this one.

One other thing to keep in mind based on the location in your tag, if you plan on running her in the colder months. Lubricator lines will be a pain to purge when you swap from summer weight oil to winter weight oil to it's "you must be crazy cold' weight oil... With drip cups the volume is so low that 1 run will clear the cups.

I don't understand. The case hardened bushings are being shrunk with dry ice and put in place. They shouldn't move in the hole.

Well Dick, our mileages may vary...… and I hope you have more success with it that I found - the installation I had to replace was done before my arrival at the shop so I have no idea how they were installed, only how they failed. Good luck with it, you guys are doing an exceptional job.

Look in the machineries hand book. It will give you proper dimensions for the sleeve bearing to be shrunk into the receiving hole. too tight and the ID will change, too loose and it will wear and pound. The ID of the bearing has specific tolerances as well for retention of of oil for proper oiling. it is not the same for all sizes of bearings so it is important to research what these proper tolerances are.

I sent an email on shrinking sleeve bearings for placement