Sat. Shot

[NW Mailing List]

On 6/29/2015 3:17 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:
> how does a rail greaser work, and where is it mounted?

Matt,
     Flange Oilers (Rail Greasers) were located near the approach to 
curves in order to lubricate the inside of the rail around the curve. 
They were mounted on the inside of the rail in order to squirt a bit of 
grease onto the fillet of the wheels. It was operated by the wheel tread 
as it passed over the mechanism. What invariably happened was this 
grease would get flung off of the wheel and land on the top of the 
outside rail of the curve. This could sometimes cause a lot of problems, 
especially going uphill. There were times when an oiler would be out of 
adjustment, putting out too much grease, and head end and pushers lost 
traction as they each went over them. I can tell you that when this 
happened, it was a wonder that there wasn't a broken knuckle...and 
sometimes there was! The slack action would get very violent.
     One of the worst experiences that I ever had was during a long wet 
spell where a light drizzle was the heaviest it rained in over a week. 
In this time I saw grease form on top of the rail from one oiler and 
travel almost a mile between MP H198 and H199. The rail was so slick 
from the grease and the water that any type of braking would slide the 
wheels. And this was trying to slow down to 25mph for the esse curves 
through Natural Bridge Station!

Jimmy lisle