Yes and No on the easements. On the last picture that loop does have an easement on the right but not on the left. That loop is made up of 4.5’ and 5.0’ radii. As for the curve coming off the steel deck truss. They are 5’ radii with no easements. Now as for making the easements it’s like Greg stated I used flex track. To make the flex track I soldered 3 five foot sections (brass) together for a total of 15’. If you are using pre-made sectional track all you have to do is remove the screws underneath securing the ties to the rail. I suppose you could do the same with stainless and just use rail clamps instead of soldering. One man can move the 15’ sections around…I tried 20’ but it became difficult to move.
I have 3 boxes of AML flex track, so with the 2 boxes of LGB 4’ straights and the sectional track, I can probably get all the easements down like everyone has mentioned. Thanks.
What sort of lubrication do people use on the journals for USA train trucks? (or trucks in general)
My area is dusty so I like graphite, you probably can use a plastic compatible oil to help seal out moisture.
edit: Use sparingly, small drops, you want capillary action to hold it in the journal.
I use Mobil 1 synthetic 5/30 motor oil
I use different lubes depending on the truck’s material
Example USA Trains Plastic Bettendorf Truck (Labele 134 PTFE powdered Teflon used):
Example USA Trains Metal Roller Bearing Truck (Moly paste used):
Example USA Trains SD70 Loco axles (Moly paste used):
Illustrated below are possible lubricants from Hob-E-Lube.
-Ted
John Caughey said:
… you want capillary action to hold it in the journal.
I knew that. I didn’t even need to look it up…or maybe I did. I can’t wait to tell my students how particularly fond of intermolecular attraction and inverse proportions I am and explain why their solvents and thin paint migrate up their paintbrushes. I’ll be a big hit.
"Capillary action is the ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces without the assistance of, and in opposition to, external forces such as gravity. This effect can be seen in the drawing-up of liquids between the hairs of a paintbrush, in a thin tube, in porous materials such as paper, in some non-porous materials (such as liquified carbon fiber), or in a cell. It occurs when the intermolecular attractive forces between the liquid and the solid surrounding surfaces (adhesive forces) are stronger than the cohesive forces within the liquid. If the diameter of the tube is sufficiently small, then the combination of surface tension (which is caused by cohesion within the liquid) and adhesive forces between the liquid and container act together to lift the liquid. The height (h) of a liquid column is given by:
"[latex]h = \frac {2T} {\rho r g}[/latex]
“where T is the surface tension, [latex]\rho[/latex] is the density of liquid, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and r is radius of the tube. Notice that the height to which the liquid is lifted is inversely proportional to the radius of the tube, which explains why the phenomenon is more pronounced for smaller tubes.”
(https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)Yea, sure. I is just a “C” student here. I know it happens, and I know it woiks, but…
I tend to use Mobile 1 for most things now, although I still have a tube of LGB grease , and sometimes I will put a small dab of that on the axle ends. Small, as in I can barely see it.
Thanks Ted for the extensive information. How often does one need to lubricate? How soon after buying new rail cars do you recommend one lubricate? All of my cars are a year old at most and most of them are brand new.
Nicolas Teeuwen said:
How soon after buying new rail cars do you recommend one lubricate?
Before using them!
Yes, before you run them, while checking the wheel gauge, or installing metal wheels. I had a car whose journal was badly worn, I wonder if the previous owner ever lubricated his cars.
Nicolas Teeuwen said:
Thanks Ted for the extensive information. How often does one need to lubricate? How soon after buying new rail cars do you recommend one lubricate? All of my cars are a year old at most and most of them are brand new.
Nicolas,
I agree with what Joe and David said. Also, try free rolling a car on clean level straight track and see how it operates. A car with trucks having clean, lubricated hubs (and cleaned wheel treads) should traverse the track smoothly over a reasonable distance. By trying a few cars you will develop a feel as to how good it rolls from the not so good so you can judge after they are run for awhile. I also roll the trucks on the track by themselves to see how good they operate.
-Ted
I have a split jaw car loader:
When loading cars, I release them. If a car has issues and/or is in need of lubrication it can show up by how far it rolls down the ramp.
Looks like I have some work cut out for me then. I never lubricated any of my cars, and as I said most of them are brand new. I am surprised they don’t come lubricated already. I’ll start with one and then see what sort of difference it makes. Since I don’t have the ez loader I might just pick a point on one of my grades and see how far it goes (using the same spot over and over). Will be curious to see what sort of difference it makes to lubricate.
Get the longer one Nicolas… cheap and easy “rolling resistance meter” ha ha…
Greg
Maybe they were lubed, maybe they weren’t. But if you lube then properly, then you know that they were lubed properly. And the lubrication isn’t just for reducing rolling resistance, its also for reducing wear on the inside of the journal. So even if you don’t see an improvement on your first couple of cars, I would still lubricate them all, so that you reduce the wear on the journals.