37: mechanical lubricator

I couldn’t find the manufacturer’s name of the mechanical lubricator used on the DRR, so I made a “typical” version of the device.

The mechanical lubricator is so called because it uses mechanical crank and cam to force the oil into the system needing lubrication, in this case, the two cylinders, containing the valves and pistons. The other type of lubricator is the hydrostatic, which uses the steam to carry the oil.

The twins on the Disneyland Railroad aren’t “supposed” to have mechanical lubricator. On the Holliday, one can see false oil cups mounted on top each cylinder. On both engines, the mechanical lubricator is mounted on the left (non-park) side of the engine. To even further hide this device, the lubrication tubes are hidden under the boiler jacket when possible, or otherwise tucked away into the shadow of the running board. In fact, they’re so well hidden that these tubes are quite difficult to trace from photographs–I had to use some imagination to route these tubes realistically.

Below are some of the parts of the lubricator, and how they fit on the engine:

The terminal end of the tubes at the steam chests will be hidden under the steam chest covers.

Each time the valve rod moves back or forth, that is, when the engine is in motion, the “Motion Link”, annotated above, moves a small crank on the interior side of the engine. Each time it cranks, a small amount of oil is ejected into the cylinders.

Here’s a video from YouTube demonstrating the action. The cover is open so you can see the cam working inside. Note also that the crank arm is driven by an eccentric instead of the valve stem.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQlsFHBYaI4&w=480&h=360]

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