Traindude - I did catch the link to Cascade. Many thanks for that.

This will probably be a dead end, but I'm looking going direct to a domestic supplier and what the cost would be. Learning about yarn, something I didn't really want to do, has shown me that untreated raw yarn is a premium specialty item for retailers. Thus, going direct to a producer may be advantageous. The yarn on the Cascade page at least gives me some specs to go by since the primary measure of yarn is weight, not length or gauge.

Anyway, like I said, it may come to nothing but at least I'll maybe be a smidgeon smarter. Or not.

Reviving an older thread....

Since some have used cotton mop heads for packing in a pinch, has anyone considered bulk cotton mop yarn? You can get it untreated in 16 lb. cones - about 1,630 yards. And it runs only about $73 per cone plus shipping. You can use a skein winder and spindle available from craft stores to make your own skeins. Buy a yarn meter or adapt a 4” measuring wheel to measure yarn length while you’re winding for consistency. Then prepare and pack the journals as in Traindude’s videos.

I know cotton doesn’t last as long as wool but for the cost and the fact that our plain bearing equipment doesn’t rack up any mileage to speak of, this might be a cost effective way to go.

Any thought or comments?

From a 1966 Army book. Maintenance of Railway Cars TM-203. This book is free on Google books. It says journal packing is to be made from Chenille Cotton

I like the idea of of bulk mop yarn. Would’ve been easier than all the mop heads I bought from every tractor-supply in Southern New England.

Keeping the loose ends carefully tucked under, and preventing wear or 'picking' from allowing new ones to form where the axle can pull them, is of great importance. It's the ends getting up between the journal and brass that preferentially spoils the hydrodynamic oil film and allows heat to build up to carbonization/ignition, or enhanced friction to cause grooving or other damage.

Yes, I'd like to see the detailed procedure, with illustrations, for packing wool waste. Yes, I'd like to see what Eric finds. (And yes, I'd like to see illustrated pictures, perhaps even a YouTube-style video, of how to 'convert' cotton mops effectively for this service)

Very interesting info, indeed. As far as mop heads, McMaster-Carr lists these as one point but stock many sizes https://www.mcmaster.com/7317t23 . They are a whole $7.39 each by the dozen. mld

I have a copy of the 1972 edition and, as far as I can find, it does not specify the specific acceptable packing material. By what I’ve learned, I’d be wary of chenille. Short pile fibers crosswise to the weave is what makes chenille yarn or fabric fuzzy or nubby. Those little fibers could stick to the journal and wreak havoc. Unless they mean something else...

This is along the lines of what I’m considering: https://www.yarnbarn-ks.com/Mop-Cotton/productinfo/ZWY-MOPCOT/.

I'd no more use chenille than I'd use terrycloth, certainly as a 'face' material to bear against the journal, no matter how lavish and well-distributed its oil transfer characteristics promise to be. All the conventional 'traditional' wisdom I have read emphasizes the idea of tough material in very long skeins, resistant to transverse wear and to breakage, with any ends tucked well, well under to resist pulling out. This at the presumptive cost in edge-to-edge oil transfer to the journal and then into the brass that comes with such a structure at inner and outer edges (my understanding of the theory being that the hydrodynamic wedge will extend by pressure edge to edge when there is a relatively rich supply at the center).

I suspect that the old heads were well acquainted with cold journals, water getting in the lubricant through worn hub and box seals, wear and nicks to journals and brasses, and the proper methods of keeping cars running as long as possible in imperfect conditions.

In the 1950s, EMD issued a Maintenance Instruction on journal boxes for their switching locomotives, MI-1204. This was a much more detailed presentation than most of the other locomotive manufacturers provided. Revision C of this document, printed in Jan. 1956 is in the members technical library on the HRA website.This document was dropped from the EMD MI list many years ago. When they were being printed on a regular basis, EMD usually only kept the MI's pertaining to their recent products available.

For any questions about how EMD organized and distributed their Maintenance Instructions please see the article I posted on this website in 2007 explaining their service publications numbering and distribution system.

PC

If you are interested, we now make journal pads to order at Pacific Journal Pad LLC. Please see this thread for more info. http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=45119&p=314350&hilit=journal+pads#p314350

Best regards,
Craig