Steam & Excursion > A Steam Engineer Taking This Chance To Attend To His Locomotive!

The care and maintenance of steam motive power did not occur just at the end of their runs for the day.  These tasks were necessary all through the shift of the crew on these steam powered locomotives.

Here, in February, 1937 we see the engineer of Western Pacific 4-6-0 #77 taking a few moments to check over the running gear of his locomotive while stopped at the WP station in Sacramento, California.  It was this kind of care and attention that kept these trains running on time and lengthened the life of any steam locomotive.

Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/21 03:00 by LoggerHogger.

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I bet that's why they were called engineers.  They not only had to operate the machine, they had to keep it running.  Gerry

In this position he has the tip of the long spout oil can dribbling
warmed ( high viscosity) valve oil at the driver hub.

The axle bearings have two surfaces the must be lubricated:
the cylindrical axle surface carrying the weight on its crown brass.
the disk of the driver hub that rubs against the journal box's hub-liner.

[ The axle bearing at the crown is lubricated by a spring-loaded
(supported) “grease block” at the bottom of the driving box. There is a perforated metal ‘screen’ ( at the axle) that keeps the block
from wearing too fast.

The grease blocks are inspected every time locos are over a pit, and replaced if too thin....
Newer, oil lubed axle lube pads were common,—— even applied today to replace the old grease block. When oil levels are maintained, the pads will last many
Thousands of miles... only adding oil at inspections.

The hubs and hub  liners are not in constant contact, but the space between
the two comes into play on curves, switches, etc. There is lateral clearance at each end of the axle,
at the wheel hubs.... and the frame tends to float between the hubs...
but on curves, the hubs play a key
role—— and ought to be well oiled.

The rear axles will get more 'lateral contact' than the axles closer to the front.
The pilot truck does a good job of leading the front of the engine through curves and 
switches;  the rear driving axle keeps the aft-end of the engine in line.  The rear hubs need the 
oil on a more frequent basis. That's why he is being diligent about this task.

They use the valve oil because its viscosity keeps it adhering to the surfaces, rather 
than dribbling down the spokes to the rail, etc.  They keep the oil heated in the tray over the 
firedoors of the blackhead --- so that it stays warmed.   The long spout of the can, if cold.
will slow  the cold oil out its tip.    That's one reason why used long spouts and why you keep
the oil nice and warm.

Hubs and hub liners are critical to plain bearings functioning smoothly.

Timken's 'tapered' roller bearings ( when used in pairs, back-to-back) will 'roll' the lateral 
thrusts smoothly --- transferring the forces the ''fixed' structures of the bearing supports.

All highway vehicles use the Timken's arrangement , in pairs, at each front wheel.
Every highway vehicle, and virtually every rail vehicle uses tne rolling element bearings
for their superior ability absorb the most severe lateral poundings on rails and roads.

To me, the most significant invention of the 20th century was Timken's solution to the 
problem of improved axle/shaft bearings  --- with respect to lateral control.

Without solving that problem, the world's flow  of goods and commerce would be severely
impaired... relying on millions of long spout oil cans for the solution...

​W.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/21 08:41 by wcamp1472.

A.  What a great photo of an everyday occurrence.
B.  Man, that is a nice looking Ten wheeler.

Rick z
 

Interesting!

Grat image and info.  Thank you!

Z

The fact that his butt is riding in that cab could be a real good reason to make sure everything is working right.

Wes, thanks for the explanation.

Regarding oiling between the hub and liner, how does the engineer get the oil to run into the gap?  Is there an oil cup on top the liner and feed hole leading into the sliding surfaces, or does he just squirt oil on the gap?  Seems like the latter would invite washing accumulated grit into where you don't want it.

Good inquiry...

Typically there is not oil cups for the
‘Hub-liners..’

So, yes, with the long spout, you place the tip in the gap...

There is risk of grit... always, but most of the time the drool method worked well enough.

A unique solution to the problem was employed on the CP G5 Pacifics built in the late 1940s.

They applied common axle grease
using ‘button-head’ grease fittings
located at the drivers’s wheel hubs.

The grease was a much better solution to the problem since it tended to stay on the surfaces and didn’t “run off” as easily as valve oil.

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Great Explaination Wes!

On the "narrie gage" (Narrow Gauge) we used the soft grease method.  We had a 5 gallon pail of the goop and one would crawl under the engine with a specially fabricated piece of thin sheet steel that we called the "paddle" and work grease up into the hub liners.  Hopefully you got more into the hubs than you got on yourself.  We called the operation "Paddle Greasing".  Outside frame locomotives have the additional joy of having twice as many hubs to grease as there is one between the driver and the driving box  as well as another between the counterwieght and the driving box.  This was a project best done over the pit while doing the daily inspection.

Other engines I have worked on had the driver centers drilled from the and button head grease fittings attached to grease the hubs.

OMG...
Never thought about all that!!

​W.

Fantastic photo. Is this engine similar to the smaller WP one at the museum outside Rio Vista?

Nathan

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