Tim,
You really don’t need to do too much. Barry’s drives have sealed ball bearings, so what I do, according to what he used to tell me, is after the locomotive has sat idle for quite a while, just take the bottom plastic plug out that should be centered over the rear axle and put a small amount of grease on the gears inside. After you do that, put a couple of SMALL drops of lubricating oil on each axle near each bearing, including the front truck axle/s. Also, make sure that you put one drop of lubricating oil on all the crank pins, rod posts and any other moving parts. Don’t forget to oil the axles on your tender. Make sure all the dirt and grime is cleaned off the wheels for good electrical pickup. One other point; Barry’s electrical pickups make contact with the back of the wheels, so check behind each wheel to make sure that the surface is clean and oil-free. Then run at a slow speed on startup.
Slowly increase the speed to medium with a few stops and starts and also in reverse a few times around your track before adding rolling stock. Also, of course, make sure your track is clean. You shouldn’t have to disassemble the locomotive at all and this simple procedure should get it running beautifully. Remember not to use excessive lubricant because it will eventually run down on to the electrical pickups or onto the wheel surfacing and will combine with dirt causing slippage, jerky operation and dirty track.
Barry built everything as bulletproof as he could which also meant that his stuff was built with the user in mind and the easiest maintenance possible.
I don’t know if these instructions are very helpful or not but it’s what I do, learning from him and his instructions over the years.
Like I mentioned before, there’s no need take the engine apart unless something is broken or non-operational.
Let us all know if this works!
For those of you out there still concerned about what has happened with Barry, unfortunately I cannot give you any further information because I don’t know. The reason for this is quite simple; the family has cut everybody off from knowing his condition or whereabouts, so we do not know what has happened to him, unless someone else has learned anything new that we don’t know. I do know he’s been moved around a few times in the past. I have made many repeated attempts to gain information from the family about his condition, and his location but they refuse (due to their views and rights of privacy) to give anyone anything further.
My sincere apologies about this to everyone and if I ever learn anything new, I’ll be sure to post it here.
Stan, you are very correct about Barry using Super Lube for the gears. Thanks for reminding us of that. It’s a great gear grease. I think it’s the best because it stays on any type of surface and doesn’t get thrown off. Not only that but it lasts a long, long time and doesn’t get all gummed up or sludgy over time.
Ken