I have a tank car at HVRM WCHX 1114 that leaks oil out of the seals on
the journals. We are going to replace the C channel with new steel soon
and have to tear both trucks completely apart to replace the steel. It would be nice to fix the leaking oil in the journal boxes and not have
to worry about it anymore.

I have a sample rubber axle journal seal from Ross Robinson, 5x9 journal
seal, but need 8 new seals. Ross has fabricated seals out of plywood and
leather to seal the journal. But having the real thing is even better.

Does anyone know where these seals can be purchased? Not a hot
item anymore since the world has gone to roller bearing trucks.

Any help would be appreciated soonest.

Tom Travis HVRM North Judson IN Restoration Dept

You might try Unity Railway Supply. I know they make the pads.

http://www.unityrailway.com/

Several years ago Unity advised me they were no longer available. The last ones they carried were some type of molded polymer (nylon?) with a fin of thin material to wipe the axle. The other usual suspects have also been contacted to no avail. I had a second hand hint that some might still be available but that source has not produced any concrete info for followup.

Trolleys often resorted to wood balnks for these, but longevity has to be in question. And having to take the entire truck apart to replace them is a pain.

If you are always leaking oil, have you considered that you might be overfilling the journal boxes? As long as there is pool of free oil in the bottom saturating the packing, it should be ample to wick up and lube the bearing.

Those rear seals were never meant to be an oil seal as much as a dust cover to keep rocks and debris kicked up, from entering the box.

Bob Kutella

Bob is entirely correct-- a small amount of "free oil" in the box, about 1/2" deep in the front, when the pad/packing is saturated with oil, is quite sufficient. The plain bearing boxes do not need to be "topped-off" daily or weekly; just check the amount of free oil and add a small amount if needed. Too much oil winds up on the wheel plates and on the ground, and that is undesirable nowadays.

As for the question of rear seals, we have not done any recently; but for future replacements, we are looking at sheet rubber or neoprene with sufficient Durometer (stiffness) to have some resilience on the dust guard seat of the axle, yet be rigid enough to go into the dust guard slot in the box. A look at McMaster's catalog will provide some good starting points; I think the rubber material can be easily cut to shape and will give good service the way we use the cars now (no 4+ mph coupling hits, which move the box and the axle and rip up plywood dust guards).

The rear seal also serves to keep rainwater and snow melt out of the box on cars with no floor-- tank cars, hopper cars, flat cars and gons with "open" decks, etc.

Lid seals are another item that are now made of that common railroad restoration material-- "unobtainium". I suspect it's easier to get brand new buggy whips than plain bearings and their components....

Howard P.
Journapak, CT

While working for Steamtown Foundation, our old Long Island "Ping-Pongs" with 4 1/4 x 8 journals had (LIRR) NOS seals made out of homasote. I believe in the "old days", the seal at the top will filled with an appropriate sized wooden 1x1xwhatever and then sealed with some tar or roofing cement (i.e. black gooey stuff). The seal at the top keeps the journal seal channel from becoming a rain conduit.

I think because the homasote would swell with the oil, it might be more effective than a strip of rubber stapled to a chunk of plywood.

Steve

An interesting product that I was unaware of. Seems commonly available, they list Home Depot and Menards as handling their product here in Michigan. We may also have a use for "burlap panels" here at SRI. Check following link for product description.

http://www.homasote.com/products.html

Fred Stevens
SRI

Sheesh, I had not realized that it had morphed into so many products! I belive the type I was referring to would be the 440 board.

It is interesting to read the history of the company listed on the website. Their original product was Agasote, a product I remember well from restoring Lackawanna cars while working at Steamtown and the Valley RR Co in the 1980's

Steve Zuiderveen.

Many thanks to everyone who commented, gave me a lot of good
ideas to utilize when we tear the trucks apart and replace the C'
Channel steel.

Thanks much

Tom Travis HVRM Restoration

Tom:

Something else we did with our tank car restoration - TWOX 1367 - was to fab up little rain shields out of aluminum flashing. The shields rest on top of the dust guards and are attached by two tabs that slide down the sides of the dust guard slot. I glued them in place with some kind of killer silicone caulk. They keep all but the worst downpours from filling up the journal boxes with rainwater. Painted safety black, only a practiced eye will notice them.