I’m thinking of buying my first n scale engine as an experiment to see if I like the scale. I wanted to ask if n scale diesels/electrics need to be lubed like their HO counterparts? I would like to avoid this mess if it all possible.
Do n scale engines and passenger cars come RTR out of the box or do they need oil to prevent squealing?
I’m thinking of buying either the Kato GG1, E8, or maybe some of the new Paragon 2 stuff by Broadway.
Then you better get out of MRRing. Anything with moving parts is going to need lubricating and cleaning…unless it’s self-lubricating. (And I’m not aware of anything in MRRing that is.) That just be the facts of life…
Tom
No matter what scale you have, you’ll always have to do cleaning and lubrication once in a while. N scale products (from what I’ve seen) usually have some of the gearing exposed on the bottom, so you won’t have to worry about disassembling so much.
If lubricating anything causes you to make a mess, you’re definitely not doing it right. No matter what scale you’re working with, you need to learn how to perform the operation correctly so there is no mess to clean up; but that’s not something we can teach you to do.
You make it sound like you’re simply dipping the entire model in a large pail of oil.
Lets put it this way, when I ever so sparingly apply oil to my HO engines, there always seems to be residue left on the boiler, probably from my fingers touching the rods that I just oiled, no matter how careful I am. Then I have to apply a drop of dish detergent to remove these stains. I apply enough oil that the squeaking goes away, unfortunately sometimes this requires a lot, either that or I wasn’t oiling the right parts.
Its a real pain, maybe I’ll get better at it with practice. MTH engines don’t require lubrication in theory according to the manual, and from my experience this is true. They are ready to run out of the box. I was hoping Kato maybe worked the same way, perhaps saving modelers the trouble of this messy job.
Once you go as small as N or an even better example, Z scale, I don’t see how you could possibly accomplish this without making a mess.
If you want to avoid a mess, try using a foam cradle to hold your locomotive (I do this anyway, no fingerprints please!!) and using a toothpick to apply gear grease sparingly until the model runs smoothly or the noise goes away. If you are using oils, make sure you use oils with a needle applicator bottle (like Hob-e-lube from Woodland Scenics) and VERY gently squeeze the bottle until the oil just barely comes out, and touch it to the gears on the drive train, repeat this as needed until your model is properly lubricated. Then simply take the locomotive out of the cradle, replace the shell (If needed) and put her back on the tracks and get back to running! [:D]
All of my N scale locos have got some provision for lubrication. If you have a bottle with a long, thin needle tip, you shouldn’t even need to get oil on your hands. Just put a drop on the gears and run the loco to let it flow through the mechanism.
The only case where I’ve had to apply extreme lubrication to a loco was when I purchased a locomotive that had been sitting on a shelf for 5 or 6 years - the original factory lube had dried up, and I needed to grease the worms and oil the motor bearings as well. This was an Atlas model, however 2 Kato locos I bought that had been sitting on a shelf for just as long have not yet needed lubing.
Hope this helps,
tbdanny
I went into N scale 30 years ago. I did not get rid of my HO equipment as I thought I may switch back sometime. I joined a club 6 years ago and can model there in both scales. I have about 35 N scale engines, mostly Atlas, that do require maintenance every so often. Dust and cat hair get into the gears and electrical pickup points and cause the loco’s to run eratic at times. It is very easy to pop out the trucks, dissassemble them and clean the pickups and gears. As for lubbing I rarely use any lube on the gears. They are made with some kind of slippery black plastic that I think does not need lubing and so far I have not had to use any. But they do need cleaning. Depending on how much I run them I may only have to clean them once of twice a year. Aside from checking coupler heights and wheels being in gauge I don’t worry about new rolling stock. N scale equipment has vastly improved since I got into N operatingwise and detailwise. You’ll N joy it.