Hi all,

What is everyone using and buying from for side rod Grease, lubricators, steam oil etc

Thanks

This is for a college project my son is working on for business class

What is a "side rid"?

I would have guess that was meant to be "side rod".

I'm sure the are exceptions but hard grease seems the norm.

Roger

Green Velvet oils are second to none for lubricating cylinders and moving parts. They were created especially for steam engines and other antique machinery. Brennan Oil in Durango, CO is the only supplier for barrels of it, though various suppliers sell small amounts for hobbyists.

The name of the manufacturer escapes me, but PB&J (Pin, Bearing and Journal) oil is also a prime lubricant in my experience.

I second Green Velvet steam oil.

As for hard grease, I don't know who manufacturers it anymore. What we have in stock has lasted us many years.

P,B, & J sounds like Texaco Journaltex, a parafin based oil, but I haven't bought any in years. Nowadays there is a synthetic equivalent, but again I can't help with a supplier. Some steam operators have changed over to this type oil for driving boxes and crankpin bearings, rather than hard grease.

Lithium type automotive grease also works for valve gears and the various pins and bushings in the running gear. You can get that at any auto parts store, or some big box stores.

For the air side of an air compressor you want mineral oil.

.

BB&J is also supplied By Brennan Oil in Durango.

This ought to help. This is a company based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. They list all the different oils and lubrications that they have, including a description of what they’re used for. https://www.interlubecorp.com/industry/railroad/

I haven't had to buy any in some time, but I was getting soda-based hard grease for rod bearings from Opti-Lube.

If you use automotive/off road grease, stay away from those containing Moly, it will corrode bronze bearings.

A little thread drift….
Same goes for graphite and Teflon or any solid additives. They’re not so much corrosive themselves but they generally don’t play well with water and can clog things up. And they can be abrasive under high pressure which is the exact opposite of what you’re wanting to achieve. In my mind, they’re maybe OK in loose fitting, non-critical things like hinges or garage door wheels. There really isn’t any point to solid additives except the names sound slippery and they cost more. For general lubrication, lithium grease is the way to go.

We had excellent results from Interlube Carbonless Air Oil and Steam Cylinder Oil on 1522.

This is probably a bit off topic, but a few years back, I was given instruction from a lubricants company technical person about the value of modern greases. I had spent too much time trying to track down the old stock, hard, cup greases for my machinery.
This man tuned me in on new "recipes!"
On reciprocating parts, such as connecting rods on antique engines, I tried a product he gave me. It was a modern, soft grease, but he insisted it had "hanging on" abilities beyond anything the old hard greases had. He was correct. Even in the reciprocating connecting rod bearings of an internal combustion engine with manual grease cups, where, over an extended period of continuous operation, heat was transferred back to the bearings, they still ran cool and remained lubricated. The new grease stayed where it was needed, where, often, the older greases simply flew off.
These greases are probably not applicable on locomotive side rods where heavier applications of grease have traditionally been used. Although, it might be worth experimenting -- they can be ordered in bulk. Certainly, for smaller applications, there are modern greases that are superior to the old recipes.
Sadly, none of this stuff is cheap today. I bought a pail (18.9 litres) of 80/90 gear oil yesterday, and with taxes, it was over $140.

https://www.comlubetechnology.com/

PM 2094 grease -- https://www.comlubetechnology.com/products.html