Maintence??

[Howeld]

Hello I have a few kato Locomotives that I have been running for about 3 years and they still run great and I was wondering if I needed to do any maintence on them such as grease gears or anything to ensure that they will continue to run like new for years to come.
howeld

 

[CBCNSfan]

Hi Howeld, welcome to the forums. I'll leave this to the experienced members to answer. but as far as I know grease is OUT! For myself, I don't run trains much, but when I have them apart for modifications I clean and lubricate with a teflon lube, which has like a hypodermic needle on the end for application of tiny amounts. There are lubricants like LaBelle http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/430-101 for lubrication when necessary. My own rule of thumb on this is if it's not broken, don't fix it
Cheers Willis

 

[ATSFCLIFF]

Hi Howeld,
If it is running well, just do slight maintenance like removing any dirt caught on the gearing and do light lubrication. As mentioned by Willis, make sure the lubricant is compatible with the plastic silicon gears as using grease or oils will do much damage.
I too subscribe to the rule "if it's not broken, don't fix it!"

Cliff

 

[grumpybob]

The biggest issue is keeping the wheels and track clean and free of scenery material. It doesn't hurt about once a year to take the cover off of the trucks and clear out the build up of lube and any other foreign material. You don't want that to make it's way to the motor.

Keeping the tracks clean is also of importance as it keeps the maintenance down on the engines and cars.

Check your Freight car wheels as well. Plastic wheels are the biggest offender of not keeping your tracks clean.

A little maintenance goes along way.