Steam 101: What's a loco quick lube service like?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2024
- One of the most important things with maintaining steam locomotives is proper lubrication. In this video, we go over the major types of lubrication - oiling and greasing of various flavors for D&RGW 491 at the @crrm . I will note there are a few things not noted - specifically the mechanical lubricator (we really don't run enough to make it a daily thing, and checking the level didn't make the cut), and checking the journal boxes - but everything else specific to the engine on a day-to-day basis is shown in this video.
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0:00 Intro
1:12 Prepwork
2:05 Alemite Rod Grease Gun
10:03 What do the brasses look like?
10:28 Soft Grease
14:26 Clean up your mess!
17:15 Greasing the Hubliners
21:30 Hydrostatic
23:20 Electric Grease Gun Tutorial with Paul
28:48 A Silly Hyce Story
30:30 Oil Types
33:00 Tops of Boxes
34:54 Oiling Around
![ช่วยพาฉันผ่านเวลา - วสันต์17 [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HFnntWoqc54/mqdefault.jpg)
That Grease Gun gives major Anti-Aircraft gun vibes, I absolutely love it. lol
Came for the Lubemachete, stayed for the history lesson. Awesome work as always mate!
Can't escape from you can I
It is becoming ever more clear why steam was too much maintenance for railroads to keep using over diesels lol. Great video.
"Like all Good railroads, you grab your machete"
Yes, Go on, Continue!
491: "Lunchlady Hyce, hav' ya got 'ny grease?"
Hyce: "Yes, yes we do"
491: "Than grease me up, woman!"
Hyce: "Okey dokey"
Dang, I didn’t know locomotives needed crushed Smurf to be able to move lol. Great Video Hyce 👍.
Never knew a light grease machine could lay down such a nice beat... truly a world class rapper in the making
The iron monster is kept alive by the sacrifice of smurf blood.
Very cool Hyce! Another very cool video, There really is no channel like yours that shows how to operate and maintain a steam locomotive Thank You for that.
You really need to make a lubricant seals and bearings 101! Iv always been curious about how they seal the piston rods and pistons. Thanks for the great video!
Rings and packing :) that would make for a neat video.
Very different to a British locomotive, they use predominately oil, with cork stopper with a bit of bamboo cane in the centre and a felt pad to wick the oil onto the bearing surface. Also mainly vacuum braking systems.
Hi Mark, excellent tutorial as always. Nice to learn about the different oil types and how they lubricate. Also great point made about engineers creating well thought out parts to make for easy access. You see this thought process in many other trades during the 18th and 19th centuries because those designing tools and mechanical parts often also used them or worked closely with those who did. Thx again for making this valuable video professor!
I’ve heard of crazy foamers but someone sucking grease off of your fingers is a whole new level of insane lol
"smurfing everywhere" had me rolling.... not using a soft greaser for a long while like you mentioned, it is rather EASY to smurf everywhere if you're unsure of the grease thickness (viscosity) used.
In the immortal words of Jamie Hynemann, “When in doubt, lube.” By the way, I wonder how Jamie’s love of Lard as a lubricant would work on steam locomotives.
It'd probably smell fantastic, lol
In this part of the world during WW2, oil rationing had the railroads resort to greasing with lard and tallow. Must've been great..
"I love the smell of bacon in the morning... Is it coming from the firebox, or the rods?"
@@PowerTrain611 Yes.
I think it's always fascinating how involved of a process lubrication was until surprisingly recently.
Basically any industrial operation of scale involved a small army of oilers who would go around with oil cans or grease guns to make sure everything ran smoothly.
Larger machinery, like mining rigs or material handling cranes could have a dedicated oiler constantly making rounds of the machine as a full time job, arguably as important as the operator actively controlling the device at the same time.
Just got this video recommended by the YT algorithm (I'm theorizing maybe from watching many openttd let's plays:-)). What a wonderful channel. I'm positively gawping at the beauty and awesomeness of those Steam Locomotives. Subscribed. Blessings!
Cheers :) and OpenTTD is great!
@@Hyce777 Cheers to you!
he has an incredible amount of knowledge of an almost 100 year old steam locomotive. where did he learn all of it? it is nice to see someone young like that have his level of understanding. this knowledge must never be lost to time. he has actual skills.
Learned on the job from my coworkers and those who came before me. I'm just trying to share what I can.
We be but simple humble pirates. Hyce uploads a video and we watch. Great video as always Hyce!! :) Question though has anyone tried to tactical reload the Alemite Grease Gun?
I mean, if the grease is the right consistency, you can just keep feeding grease instead of using the dowel; though you're not usually that lucky.
@@Hyce777 That makes sense.
Very detailed description of the process of preparing for the day. And if you’re lucky by the time you’re done with greasing and oiling she’s hot and the engineer has the bacon and eggs ready.
I love these videos that focus on one specific thing.
I guess the engineers on the rio grande were more thoughtful than the ones at Ford or Chevy. I'm an automotive mechanic and I couldn't agree more! This video also makes me want to drop back down to a lube tech and grease nothing but trains!!!! Awesome video.
What an awesomely violent and messy process!! Very cool to see.
Librel in application, Conservative in prep and storage.
That's a better way to put it.
@@Hyce777 the stuff's expensive but it's cheaper to use than to replace parts all the time.
fantastic, Showing us what goes into keeping these awesome machines running right.
I can't thank you enough for all the education you're sharing!
Love your 101 videos!
Oh and thanks for all this killer content. Looks like you’re having a great time. Keep it up.
That has to be the loudest air tool and system I've ever heard in standby...
Just from what came out of the speakers, I'd double up my hearing protection when working with the solid grease gun...
That grease gun was something I hadn't anticipated at all, that's a tool setup my mind didn't comprehend at first.
I'd also like to voice my admiration of Hyce's colleagues, what a great bunch of good humans!
Never underestimate the value of a good working relationship and environment, especially when working with potentially lethal equipment.
You've got it sorted out Hyce, please keep sharing your experiences because this was so fascinating to watch.
Keep being awesome Hyce, take care and stay safe.
Hyce: what, do you want some?!??
Photographer: yes *Schlorp*
REALLY enjoyed this! Thnx
You never fail to amaze me.
17:15, this is the part where you begin to appreciate inside frame locomotives
yuuuuuuuuuuuup
This reminds me of when I was growing up, when you went to get a oil change they use to also do a full grease lube job on all the parts under your car. Now most factory original parts don't even have grease fittings. If you replace the old worn out parts the replacement parts usually comes with grease fittings, but not always. The quality of new cars aren't what they used to be, everything is throw away parts.
No kidding.
Cars and everything else!
My job was adding the grease to the inside of the running gear. My queue was to listen for a "popping" noise. That meant the grease was expanding and was doing its job.
It´s awesome to see what is it about to work on old locos like you do, love those videos! Just can´t imagine what is it like to take out all the grease a dirty stuff out of long hair like you have :)
I´ve had long hair before, but I can´t imagine taking out all the stuff out of it :)
awesome video as all ways 10/10
Just found your channel. In my younger days I volunteered on three different steam railroads. I had the pleasure of running the 148 (FEC Pacific) while she was in the Morristown & Erie in NJ. Also fired her on an excursion run in the EL. The EL road foreman ran her that day. An oil burner, we ran old crankcase drainings and did it ever give me a headache. I kept aspirin in my pocket.
I’m 76 now and Lord how I miss it. Nothing like your hand on the throttle.
You're totally right Bob. Thanks for joining us here. I bet the 148 was an awesome engine to run.
Very nice engine to run. The front end throttle was super nice and gave great control. You also could ramp up the oil feed and almost instantaneously recover if you were five pounds of boiler pressure down.
The engine was really in terrible shape, though. It got kicked around from one tourist railroad to another until Sam Freeman, the owner, died and then I heard that someone had started an overhaul but ran out of money. Thankfully, deep pockets US Sugar Co.. who bought her from the FEC, bought her back and did a rails up rebuild. She had all sorts of problems, including the smoke box rusted out and sagging onto the saddle, cross compound air pump worn out and leaking steam nine ways, some bad staybolts, drivers clanking and clunking on worn brasses. US Sugar even had the cylinders rebooted or lined - not sure which. Just for fun we tried charging steam into the tender coils and they had a zillion leaks. You don’t need them with crankcase oil anyway.
She’s all rebuilt now and running excursions in FL. Check out the US Sugar website!
Very nice engine to run. The front end throttle was super nice and gave great control. You also could ramp up the oil feed and almost instantaneously recover if you were five pounds of boiler pressure down.
The engine was really in terrible shape, though. It got kicked around from one tourist railroad to another until Sam Freeman, the owner, died and then I heard that someone had started an overhaul but ran out of money. Thankfully, deep pockets US Sugar Co.. who bought her from the FEC, bought her back and did a rails up rebuild. She had all sorts of problems, including the smoke box rusted out and sagging onto the saddle, cross compound air pump worn out and leaking steam nine ways, some bad staybolts, drivers clanking and clunking on worn brasses. US Sugar even had the cylinders rebooted or lined - not sure which. Just for fun we tried charging steam into the tender coils and they had a zillion leaks. You don’t need them with crankcase oil anyway.
She’s all rebuilt now and running excursions in FL. Check out the US Sugar website!
Very nice engine to run. The front end throttle was super nice and gave great control. You also could ramp up the oil feed and almost instantaneously recover if you were five pounds of boiler pressure down.
The engine was really in terrible shape, though. It got kicked around from one tourist railroad to another until Sam Freeman, the owner, died and then I heard that someone had started an overhaul but ran out of money. Thankfully, deep pockets US Sugar Co.. who bought her from the FEC, bought her back and did a rails up rebuild. She had all sorts of problems, including the smoke box rusted out and sagging onto the saddle, cross compound air pump worn out and leaking steam nine ways, some bad staybolts, drivers clanking and clunking on worn brasses. US Sugar even had the cylinders rebooted or lined - not sure which. Just for fun we tried charging steam into the tender coils and they had a zillion leaks. You don’t need them with crankcase oil anyway.
She’s all rebuilt now and running excursions in FL. Check out the US Sugar website!
Very nice engine to run. The front end throttle was super nice and gave great control. You also could ramp up the oil feed and almost instantaneously recover if you were five pounds of boiler pressure down.
The engine was really in terrible shape, though. It got kicked around from one tourist railroad to another until Sam Freeman, the owner, died and then I heard that someone had started an overhaul but ran out of money. Thankfully, deep pockets US Sugar Co.. who bought her from the FEC, bought her back and did a rails up rebuild. She had all sorts of problems, including the smoke box rusted out and sagging onto the saddle, cross compound air pump worn out and leaking steam nine ways, some bad staybolts, drivers clanking and clunking on worn brasses. US Sugar even had the cylinders rebooted or lined - not sure which. Just for fun we tried charging steam into the tender coils and they had a zillion leaks. You don’t need them with crankcase oil anyway.
She’s all rebuilt now and running excursions in FL. Check out the US Sugar website!
I love the PPE that everyone working wears.
Those Alemite guns can be powered from the locomotive itself when under steam, yes ? I seem to recall seeing that in videos of the Big Boy 4014 and others stopped during an excursion. Great video ! I also seem to remember it being a two person job, similar to a crew-served machinegun. Would be faster that way I would guess.
Yes, much easier to have two people, and yes you can use the main reservoir of the locomotive provided it has a fitting for the hose. I'd wager the 4014 does have that. All of ours do.
One little trick with the grease gun is leave the tube about 1 full rotation from tight put your plunger back in then hit the trigger it will automatically bleed itself and all you have to do is tighten the tube back up
A lot of similarities to the way its done on the BHCRR. We use soft grease from a milwaukee grease gun for the rods and valve gear. Greasing the rods and valve gear for both front and rear engines, left and right side, usually used 3 tubes of grease. No hydrostatic lubricators, just steam oil cups on the compressors. Surprised you didn't mention the mechanical lubricators. The ones on the logging mallets are awkward to fill, and slow. I had a checklist of all the stuff that needed doing each morning (all alone, by myself) while building steam, and sometimes it was a chore to get it all done inside the 3 hrs 15 minutes given for fire up each morning. The zerks on the rods often leak or jam, and it gets everywhere on your clothes.. Sure does attract dirt and grit too.
We don't run enough for our mechanical to be more than a daily "yup still has oil in it", so I honestly forgot to film it. On anywhere that runs for real, the mechanical is critical, though yeah not the most complex, but a pain in the ass usually, lol!
Provide when changing grease tubes in those dewalt guns, unscrew your tube portion then pull back the charging rod and lock it in place, load the new tube and start to screw it on but don't tighten it all the way yet, allow the charging rod to start pressing the grease down then tighten ( this eliminates air pockets at the start of the tube), then crack open the bleeder screw near the discharge line of the grease gun, slightly press on the charging rod to finish pushing air out till you have grease starting to come out the end, ( sometime you have to pull back on the charging handle just till it stops then turn it to be able to use it to push) doing it this way once you have it down work incredibly well and primes the gun almost instantly, I've done this method when greasing pumps at work and been burning through cases at a time
Oh nice, thank you for the tip!
That oil is thick as peanut butter. The hydrolic oil that was used way back was animal grease, bear grease was most popular for lubing the steam cylinders on traction engines.
I researched the cost of a 55 gallon drum of Mobil 600 XP 460 gear oil and the current cost is: $2,280.00. That's the price today, Wednesday June 28, 2023.
Not me finding the purge valve for the air line really cool. Im used to 135 psi of PSSS every time i pop the fitting, so thats REALLY cool to me
Maybe this is to far off, but I would find this kinda fun to do in the upcoming train mechanic simulator, when ever that releases, as an optional task for more money after fixing up one of the locomotives
My Sn3 K-37 has a Soundtraxx Tsunami DCC Decoder, when it is sitting in the yard for a while, one of the sound affects is the grease gun going off.
That's fun! I didn't know they had those sound effects installed.
Now that greave gun sounds like UP GREASING 844. LIKE a mACHINE GUN. Anyway. Thank you man. If you want info on crab orchard and Eygption let me know. I road it way back. My great aunt lived in Marion next to the tracks. Anyhoo keep up the good work
One word for this whole video: GREASE
Amazing video! I never knew much about steam locomotives until I found this channel and your Steam 101 video. What are the hard grease blocks made from?
A sort of cakey grease called alemite, which is basically soap mixed with oil, lol.
They are a lye based, not petroleum based grease.
When you said the pit wasn't very fun, I thought that was silly until I saw the 3' pit you have, not the 6' pit my dad had at his shop.
I just muted the grease gun bit and I have Rammstein - Sonne playing over it. Matches it perfectly.
Very good video 👍👍👍
Is it Possible to get the specification on that grease, you cut with the macetie?
I could have used one of those guns but not that blade in aircraft shops. Some people I worked with were too careless with sharp things, but the guns can't to it to people. We had to use muscle to move the grease and there were some big jobs to do by hand packing and by manual grease gun.
So 20 years ago, when I was playing the Navy game, I was on a an SSBN and it was a monthly (i think its been a while) to grease the rudder ram and bearings. Now of all the daft places to put the dozen or so zerks, they put the cluster about 4 feet above the top of the ram which was itself about 4 feet off the deck. The only way to get to it was to rig up the pneumatic grease gun and climb up on top of the ram and stand there to hold the nozzle on the zerk, which was always "fun" as underway the ram was always moving it kept you on your toes ballencing on a 8" hydraulic ram like that.
The other stupid grease job was the fairwater planes, you had to climb up into the bridge trunk, and squat/lay on top of the linkage to get to the fittings, which was unsettling because at max travel (full dive) there is no room for a person, or you could slip off with the planes in rise and get pinned behind the linkage against the aft part of the trunk, it was yuck .... and greasing the manual vent actuators in shaft alley was interesting, but we only did that underway once, it imvolved
climbing hoping over the rail, onto the shaft (spinning) and trying to get the nozzle on the zerk at a full jog! Funny to watch, shitty to do....
That sounds awful, but sounds like a fun task for the fresh meat.... Lol!
Cool grease guns.
On the Durango train we had a machine that would form the hard grease into nice round tubes. Like a big play doh fun factory. No big machete needed. Another danger of the big pneumatic grease gun is the possibility of one’s fingers getting sheared off when feeding the grease. Which I’m told happened. I have a metal plate holding my finger together from getting caught between that heavy grease gun and the main driving rod. So I was lucky I only got a broken finger instead of NO finger.
little late, but there should be a plug in the top of the electric gun you can put a grease fitting in for filling out of a barrel if you happen to run out of tubes again. or do it the old fashioned way and stick the barrel in a bucket of grease and pull the plunger out, kinda messy though. Another tip is only thread the barrel on 2-3 turns or so then put the plunger in to push the air out, then snug it the rest of the way, doesn't have to be tight either.
Electro grease guns are wonderful btw-no more counting pumps 🤣
Man Hyce, I didn't know you guys greased with Colgate Max Fresh!🤣
I've seen those grease blocks on old paper machine dryer bearings. Wonder if it's the same stuff.
hi hyce love the video I have a question could you double head two steam engines in the Colorado Railroad Museum.
We have and will again some day :)
Reminds me of packing grease for trailer axle bearings. That engine has Walschert valve gear. How do you get in between the axels to lube it if it is inside Stephenson valve gear? That must be a pain.
You bet... Lol. Stephenson gear is quite a pain to lubricate. That said, it is smaller and has less hard grease; our Stephenson engines are entirely done with the oil can.
i wonder how much it would change if you made a steam locomotive from scratch with modern processes like how the bearings would be or how you get them greased or even how the boiler if heated/fed
It's not often a 40-minute video of someone squirting grease is actually entertaining.
Hi Mark great video man. I’m glad you showed us how you guys lub the engine when you don’t have air being provided by the engine. I wise wondering is there any way we could message on Facebook since I can’t get discord to wirk? Also I was wondering do you guys ever have to lub the engin when you guys are running? Thanks man Jeff aka NW611!
At the narrow gauge railroad I volunteer with we have to manually lube everything which is why we go and check every one each round while passengers are boarding and we don't have very big passenger cars we have 1800 passenger cars super shorts
more coffee Hyce!
I love the Grease "machine" gun lol 😅. I was wondering how the "old timers" packed that hard grease into those fittings in the old days, in the 1800's? I was watching the back end of this video just oiling contact surfaces and I was thinking if a person who wanted to could make some of those parts out of ceramics that,
would cut out a lot of that excess oiling that needs to be done all throughout the day.
I don't think I have ever seen anything like that hard grease used on any UK locomotives, from what I have seen it is usually just a reservoir of oil in the top of the bearing with the softer grease in larger axle bearings. Is that solid grease a thing with certain locomotive builders or is it just down to component size?
Component size. Bigger bearings need a harder grease. Most of the UK stuff is smaller due to loading gauge.
Great
is this still done with modern diesel locos or do they just have a main reservoir to feed the wear surfaces
You guys and your fancy roundhouse, it was a lot more work to drag everything in and out of the old box car. I don’t remember the alemite gun being so large, is there a smaller one? Also don’t remember having to chop it up, I just remember sticks but it’s been a long time.
We are very spoiled with the roundhouse compared to how it used to be! Haha. I don't believe there is a smaller air powered one, though there are smaller hand-operated varieties. The grease has come in blocks and sticks, just depends on who's making it and where you can get it from.
Tiger cat has that same kind of grease fittings
It's almost like you're giving 491 toothpaste, so it doesn't get holes in its bearings. Also, do you ever have to clean the oil or grease out, or does it just wash itself out when pouring the next batch?
it knocks itself out over time usually, and then the rest gets pushed out with new stuff being added.
@hyce what on earth was that air tool you used to grease the side/coupling rods with and just as importantly how does it work.
Basically a giant air gun. The hole he feeds the grease into has a valve/plunger actuated by the movement of the handle to force the grease into the bearings. I've heard stories of guys feeding that grease in, not paying attention, and losing the tip of their finger/thumb to the plunger.
Yeah it's just called an alemite gun or grease gun. Big air piston just presses the grease in. And yes, many people have lost fingers or parts of fingers by shoving them down the tube...
I’m sure that hard grease is fun in the winter, hard as a crayon.
Yeah, it sucks. Lol. You can pour water on it to help soften it a bit, which we've had to do in the past.
Can’t forget the blankie
Amazing video. How heavy is that train?
~150 tons, engine and tender, fully loaded ready to go.
Mark, do you know of any modern equivalents to the alemite gun? In need of one.
I have not heard of anyone making new alemite guns yet; but I have seen progress pictures of a gentleman designing them on Facebook. I want to say Jason Sobsycnski of "Next Generation Rail Solutions" may make a hand cranked greasing device that accomplishes the same task though.
Do you guys not double team the hard grease?
The railroad I help at we always double team it, one person holding it and doing the trigger while the other feeds the grease
Certainly helps if you've got the extra hand; for us it's sort of 50/50.
Just out of curosity, who supplies pin grease, lube oil, and valve oil these days?
For my small-scale steam, tend to use Shell Valveta or Green Velvet for valve oil, and 3 in 1 motor oil for lube oil and for the crankpins.
We get everything we can from green velvet. I'm not actually sure who makes the rod grease.
I can only imagine how hard bigger locos and streamlined ones would be a pain to lube
Just curious how does the k37 stack up to other trains in railroads online
Hey just out of interest, are there any requirements to volunteer at the museum? And also would it be possible for an exchange student to volunteer for a year?
There are a few, related to age; not sure beyond that. Recommend you check out the museum's website. And, I'd see no issue with that.
Holy crap! That machete grease has to be ALGI grade 5, if not 6. It's firm enough to reverse bearing wear.
When I saw the machete I knew this would be good
Speaking of components that have a lot of grease, do locomotives ever use a differential? I would imagine that on circular tracks like yours not having one would cause extra and maybe uneven wear on the wheels
They don't; funny you should ask this, tune in on Friday for a video that covers this exact topic.
I believe the taper on the wheels acts as a differential. I'll have to go watch the video Hyce mentioned now 🙂
I love steam locomotives as much as the next foamer but seeing the amount of care they need I see why they went out of service
Yuuuuuuppp... Lol
680 weight....
No wonder the oil cans live on a shelf above the firebox door.
I thought I knew steam engines, and here comes hyce dropping knowledge I only wish I knew.
Photographer went ahead and got the weirdness out of the way first then. lmao
Yup, the oil can shelf is all about that warmth.
Great video! What are you using for soft grease?
Chevron delo grease ep2
@@Hyce777 Thank you. And where in the world do you get the alemite grease from? lol
When the grease gun becomes grease artillery :D
I understand that the need to grease is dependent upon usage, but in general, for a loco that was in normal use back in the day, how often did they have to grease/oil those bad boys?
On start of the day and depending on mileage once or twice when at a station either bunkering or taking on water.
A lot, haha. At least once a day while running, if not more. I've heard the story of rods needing to be done every hundred or few hundred miles, depending on how hard the engine works.
@@Hyce777 I think it also depends on the engine and what type of bearings its running with, correct? Wasn't N&W 611 able to go potentially thousands of miles before needing servicing thanks to her all roller bearing setup?
2:54
"Ppe" me a young student doing lots of trads stuff in my school (nothing big yet sadly)
I know exactly what hes talking about
How does that grease guns feeder tube not bend and snap after use? Do you just machine more?
They do eventually break, yes, lol. We have extra heads.
I see our Kelley mud flap there still!! LOL
That's a washout plug drain shield, sir
@@Hyce777 ha ha ha lol I work for Kelley Trucking. Makes me giggle seeing it
I’m kind of surprised that the wheel hub bearings don’t need the heavy-weight Alemite grease and that you can use the lightweight electric grease gun. Maybe I’m just confused about what you are greasing through the slots.
As always, I loved the video.
The alemite would fall out, there's nothing to hold the grease in on the hubs, hence why it's that really tacky stuff.
Hyce do you guys use journaltex lube for the axle boxes?
The boxes themselves get PB&J.
"automotive, where you're using 30-40 weight oil"
About that.
In the ongoing quest for greater fuel efficiency, and with the modern technology of fully synthetic lubricants, the newer cars are now mostly all switched over to using 0W20 oil, a multi-viscosity oil that acts like 0 weight at low temperatures and 20 weight at operating temperatures.
Gone are the days of 10W30 motor oil being the standard, tho lawnmowers usually still take straight 30 weight (which you can also use as 2-stroke oil in the right ratio, but it'll be a lot more smoky than purpose-built 2-stroke oil meant for that task)
Diesel engines for automotive applications are even starting to use 0W30 oil, it's that much of a "squeeze every last little bit of efficiency out of the engine" thing.
The engines that have variable valve timing are really picky about which oil you use in them, but ALL engines will happily run on "some sort of" oil rather than nothing at all for lack of the proper lubricant. Might turn on the check engine light, but that's a superior alternative to turning on the low oil pressure light, aka the "too late" light.