Need a railroad supplier for the rubber seals that would insert
into a journal box to prevent leaking oil and water leaking in.
Will have the trucks tore apart soon and that would be the
only time to fix the leaking oil problem with the seals.

Thanks for any info.

Ah, "dust guards", aka rear box seals. Yet another item which is made from that material commonly used in older railway equipment---- "unobtainium". Not one of the original makers of the rear box seals makes these anymore.

OK, a couple of years ago, one of our stalwart volunteers fabricated some rear seals for a 6x11 axle that was going into a New Haven RPO-bagg. We used a piece of this:

9455K38 1 Each Medium-strength Neoprene Rubber, Plain Back, 1/2" Thick, 12" X 12", 50a Durometer

from McMaster-Carr.

The dimensions of the old style dust guard were obtained from a Car Builder's Cyclopedia (1937 edition, I recall) and the rubber was cut to that size. A 1/8" thick masonite spacer was made to match that cut-out rubber dust guard/seal, so that the rubber fit tightly into the slot in the box. I think the slots are 5/8" wide. This worked well for us; I can't vouch for the longevity of it, but the rubber should absorb the usual shocks and axle displacement far better than the old wood dust guards did.

Hope this helps; let us know how it works out for you.

Howard P.
Waste Grab, CT

In several vintage texts a design is shown for fabricating dust guards. One is to take two pieces of plywood and "sandwich" a piece of rubber (1/8 or 3/16) between the plywood and put it all together using copper rivets and copper washers. All but the plywood is available from mcmaster. A circle of rivets should be put in around the axle opening about 2" apart then 4 rivets total in the "corners" (one in each corner). The hole in the plywood is to be 1/2" larger than the axle save for the top of the opening... it should be about 3/4" above the normal position of the axle.

I'm still hoarding inventory ... like an old hen on an egg. But a few wheelsets down the road and we'll be fabbing 'em up per the above recipes ...

I think I have posted this one before, but the Long Island "Ping Pongs" at Steamtown Foundation had NOS dust guards made of Homasote for their oddball 4 1/4 x 8 journal boxes.

Steve

4 1/4 x 8 journal boxes... just did a car that size!

On the last few freight cars I've seen WRM do, we used plywood for the back journal seal. Of course they won't run very far or very often.

Many thanks to all who responded to my request. We had one supplier from
Montreal, but charges too much for the dust guards, so homebrewing them
is the answer.

Replies from a friend in Ottawa ONT. Rubber, even neoprene is subject to oil
attack. Problem is to get a good seal between the axle and the seal, the
originals had a sort of flange in the rubber which fit the axle tightly, some
even had a coiled spring in there to force it outwards. The first post
with 1/2 inch thick material would not do this. The second post is more
useable IMHO, same idea as mine but using rubber. I used leather because
I had it in stock , was a familiar technology and provided it is not run dry
should wrap the axle better than rubber. The hole in the leather is about 1/2
inch smaller than the axle, so when you slide it onto the axle it bends inward,
acting as a flange to keep the oil in. We have used our now for about 4 years,
mind you the tender does not do a lot of traveling so far, but it does not leak.

Order the leather and hide glue from Organ Supply.com <osi@organsupply.com>
They take MC. Order 8 square feet of heavy packing leather, #6240.00
and one pound bag of hide glue, 7010.00. We can use a crock pot
and a tin can for a double boiler to heat the glue

Ross Robinson <restorer@ncf.ca> Bytown Rail Society Ottawa ONT CANADA

Thanks again to Ross for his suggestions.

Tom Travis La Porte IN, HVRM North Judson IN