Hi
Still a new guy. I have six HO DCC steam locomotives. I am looknig for guidance on proper maintenace for the locos. What sort of lubrication is best, where should it be applied, and how often? Are there other cleaning or maintenance I should be doing? Thanks
wdcrvr
Some favour specific hobby lubes while others look for, use, and will enthusiastically support alternatives.
Basically, for grease and plastic gears, you should use plastic-compatible lubes. That applies as well to the painted surfaces on our models. If you leave a light smudge of non-compatible grease on a nicely painted model shell, you are going to find a mar in the finish before long.
When I first got into the hobby about ten years ago, someone who knew their lube chemistry urged us to use Dextron III Mercon automatic transmission fluid. It is safe for plastics and paint, and it does a creditable job of lubing your axle bushings and the pivot points on your steamers' running gear...the valve linkages and rods.
Most of us invert the locomotive in a foam cradle or something that won't damage fine details or the finish. We take a fairly large darning needle, one used to sew buttons, say, and we clip the top half of the eye off. This leaves two tines paralel to each other. I dip the tines into a dab of the ATF and leave the lube on the axles where they emerge from their brass bushings. I also dab the ATF at all pivot points where rods pivot.
I run any one engine seldom. I take them out two at a time and run them on and off for maybe a month, then I return them to their original cartons. I may not run them again for two years, but that's at the outside. If the model runs well and doesn't squeak, I leave it as is. But if I hear something, if it has been quite some time since I last run it, I take the eight minutes it takes to lube the running gear. I have yet to take apart a loco and clean/replace/top-up any gear lube. Again, I run them so little that I don't think I have used up or contaminated my gear lubes enough to bother looking. I'm sure other more experienced modellers will insist that the gear lube that is stored for any length of time will harden and be hard on the gear tower and motor next time it is asked to move the locomotive. They're probably quite right, too.