I was recently looking at a 1951 ALCO operation and service manual (TP-600) for their RS and S type engines. In the lubrication section, they mention the use of car oil for some applications and then the use of electric car oil in other applications.

I can deduce that car oil must be journal oil as that is what they recommend for the journal boxes and they recommend a "Good grade conforming to AAR specifications", however, for the traction motor axle bearings, they recommend electric car oil which they simply specify as "Good grade (summer and winter)".

What is the difference? With today's lubricants, can a regular journal oil like Journaltex be used in place of the electric car oil for the traction motor axle bearings or are there specific products that replace electric car oil? If there are, can anyone give me some recommendations on what to use for the traction motor axle bearings on an ALCO RS-1?

Thanks!

Until later,
Chris Hauf



crhauf@frontiernet.net

> Chris Hauf

My maintenance manual for ge13031 with GE731 motors says to use "car oil, AAR Spec. EM-906-50" for the axle bearings on the motors. I believe your RS1 might have the same motors ??


lamontdc@adelphia.net

I've never worked on an RS1, but on ordinary EMDs, we always just used regular Journaltex or an equivalent on the suspension bearings, the same stuff as the journal boxes.

ryarger@rypn.org

In "those days" electric car oil was a sightly better grade of oil than jounral oil, being formulated to withstand the higher temperatures of motor bearings better - - also was recommended for sleeve type, waste-fed armature bearings. The thinking was to use the cheap stuff in journal boxes and save the more expensive for the traction motors.

However, by the 1970s thinking had changed toward cutting down on product inventory, so journal oil was improved and electric car oil dropped.

Journaltex or equivalent is fine for axle caps and armature bearings. In very cold weather you may want to use a 10 weight oil, like 10 weight OC turnbine oil.