It was definitely not graphite. It was a paint of sorts. Very light gray and thin.

This sounds precisely like the 'graphite' coating often used on smokeboxes, doesn't it?

The concern I would have is that the person or people who used this coating as a journal protectant might not have realized that part of the reason it 'works' so well on smokeboxes is that it is cured by high heat to give proper film characteristics. You'd almost certainly want some kind of 'overwrap' to assure noncorrosion over any reasonably long term... or add some moisture-displacing or film-forming constituents to the graphite coating, similar to what's in WD-40...

It might be possible to cure the applied material, on something as massive and 'heat-sinking' as a journal with something like a torch with blanketing gas or a large heat-gun-like device. The suggestion to use something based on an actual ambient-temperature-curing paint is likely a better idea, and it might be interesting to speculate on the exact system of primer and topcoat best suited to things like wheeltreads and journals that will be long-term exposed to weather or corrosive environments with minimal damage.

Most definitely not smoke box paint. It reminded me of insulating varnish used inside generators, motors and engines, etc. Except it was gray. I don't think I have seen it since.

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Thanks for the great answers. This is why we enjoy RYPN.