During the Postwar period, and for a good part of the Modern era, Lionel used Oilite bearings for the axles of most* diesel trucks. Oilite bearings are made of sintered bronze, are porous, and are impregnated with oil. So the axle bearings rarely required lubrication. (supposedly Oilite bearings are lifetime lubricated).
When I want to oil one of those bearings, I use the lightest oil possible. You do not want to clog the pores of the bearings.
Below is a photo of some spare postwar F3 bearings I had handy.
In some of Marty's shots of the truck block, the bearings look like they might be Oilite, in others, not so much.
* - in the mid 1960's Postwar Lionel started making ALCO and Switcher power trucks without any bearings at all. And some non-powered trucks were made without bearings, and some of the various motor units were made without bearings on the non-powered axles.
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