Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:Yeah, it was baffling to say the least. I always would lube per the instruction when taking something that has been stored. I remember checking the grease to see how good/bad that was in there(which looked okay at the time). Odd thing was it was running fine Christmas night(so many Christmas's ago), and it just stopped running. That is why I thought it was mechanical. I something was running and stopped, you'd figure it would be gearing or something, not crudded up grease that just decided to stick like glue.
The thing that made my local train guy and his daughter's eyes bug out was managing to break the diecast truck on the Western Maryland boxcar while still in the box. I said about it that it must have hit just right to break the one side of the truck off. Well, I guess odd things pop up for everyone, this one was mine.
Sounds like you need a new brand of grease. What was it? I want to avoid it. It usually takes a decade or two for even cheap greases to get "crunchy" or stiff. I have a ½ gal. can from the early 60s that looks brand new (Wolfs head). I save it for bicycle hubs etc. just due to age.
Labelle has specific weights for trains, but I usually use 20w or 30w straight weight motor oil, Lubriplate Aero, or steal Lucas soft & tacky from my garage's grease gun.
In high number metal production, there will be a few flaws and shocks are good at finding them. No cheap way to ensure it never leaves the plant. Luck of the draw is all.
