I feel compelled to go on a rant about maintaining the journals on park engines. It is incredibly easy to do and doesn't cost much, but saves a great deal of money and frustration in the long run when, if your engine has to move, the journals aren't rusted to crap.

While getting CNR 6167 and 6213 ready for their respective moves, we jacked up each journal box to the point where the brass could be lifted up and the journal given a coating of oil. In the case of 6167, some of the plain bearing journals were very badly corroded, and it dawned on me that had the original group of people that had looked after it since it was put on display bothered to engage in such easy tasks, the journals of that engine would be in far better shape.

Jacking up the journal boxes also helps to keep them from getting seized to the pedastals, as are all (but one) of the boxes on 6167's tender trucks.

Just go to the hardware store and invest in a 20-ton jack and some oil or grease.

Hmm...would a 20 ton jack work on an Allegheny?

Yes, as you are only lifting up one journal box.

Ohh...should have checked up on my steam vocab.

This is how its done:

http://www.trainweb.org/j.dimech/6167/6213-1.html

Ohh, thanks for the info. By the way, your site is awesome! Love the tips and tricks you posted!

To keep from lifting the wheel up, a bent piece of steel on the edge of the wheel works great! Note that the jack sits on top of the steel to keep the wheel from traveling up.

That looks like a good idea. If I ever have to do that, I will try to use that.

Neat. We did end up lifting several wheels on 6213 and 6167. Here are some of the photos that prompted my rant in the first place. We were cleaning out the Journal boxes on the trailing truck and noticed some heavy corrosion on those journals.

http://www.trainweb.org/j.dimech/journal/100505.html

Thank you so much for posting this! Our group, the Northwest Indiana Railroad Preservation Society, has taken over the basic maintenance of NKP 624, a 2-8-2 mikado on display in Hammond, Indiana. We've begun to do some basic cleaning of the locomotive and I was looking for info on how to lube the bearings. Talk about luck!

Ryan Kertis
www.nwirps.org

http://www.flickr.com/groups/nwirps/

Facebook - Northwest Indiana Railroad Preservation Society

Hooray! Glad I could help. This is exactly why I do this.

After reading through your site and the history of the 624, I still stratch my head at every instance of a group of people who feel the absolute urgency to take a steam lcoomotive and plop it right in the middle of a park. In nearly every instance its proved to a be a disaster.

It also pisses me off quite a bit at all the people who feel an absolute urgency to vandalize these engine and steal everything they can. I can't help but wonder if the people committing these pointless acts at least gain something from all the senseless destruction.

Working on 6167 and seeing all the damage that was done to her cab, makes me wonder, WHAT would draw a person to go out of their way to (in 6167's case) force entry into the cab, and upon seeing all those pretty gauges, feel the NEED to smash them, rip the guts out and completely destroy them?

I spent several years trying to find replacement gauges for the engine, with no sucess. Part of the problem were the absolutely RABID Collectors out there who had no problem forcing the prices on these things to the most insane levels, or the sellers of these items who either stole them from the railway, were given them for free, or paid all of 15 cents a peice back in the 50's, and feel this entitles them to charge roughly 5000 times more today.

If they hadn't been placed in parks most likely they would have been scrapped so blessed are the park engines, each and every one. May they all survive until caring hands can attend to them.

Your lubrication suggestions are excellent. Is there a possibility of damage if lifting something really ancient by jacking the bottom of the box? Corrosion could have greatly reduced the thickness and strength.

Steve

Since you brought up the topic of maintaining friction bearing journals what exactly is the prefered and best oil to use when oiling them? When i bought and had moved my caboose moved by rail 15 years ago by Conrail from Pa.to Ohio,wich i was really suprised at the time they would even move it by rail with friction bearings.One of the guys helping me with better RR knowledge than i told me to pick up several gallons of non detergent SAE 40 oil wich i did at a local TSC farm store.We did the jacking as you mentioned along with using that pc. of bent steel against the wheel,inspected all the journal brass,put new journal pads in and oiled the journals.I've always wondered exactly what type of oil the railroads used.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can chime in.....

I assisted a local tourist railroad repack journals on several cars. We did some research and found a local oil supplier that could supply a 55 gallon drum of "journal oil No. 9" meeting the AAR spec M-963-84, but the cost was pretty high especially since we didn't need an entire barrel. We were able to purchase a half barrel from another close tourist railroad, but I don't know who their supplier was. We decided against using another oil simply because the AAR spec was still available. I've also wondered if another oil could be substituted. Here's a supplier that offers the AAR spec, and Citgo also makes the AAR spec (no political comments please):

http://www.interlubecorporation.com/railroad.asp

We were also fortunate to find replacement pads from Birmingham Rail for the cars but I can't remember the size. One of the nearby tourist railroads uses mop heads apparently with great success.