I experienced problems with Reboxx’s Exxact Socket Hand Tool for cleaning truck journals. I bought one and found it was not long enough to fit in both journals of any freight car truck I tested.  This makes holding the tool a bit difficult, keeping an even pressure tricky and maintaining a "straight-in" approach to the journal cavity very difficult.

With a short tool such as this it is necessary to pinch the truck frame quite a bit to maintain any possible contact with the journal cavity surface.

I took the tool back to the hobby shop and found all of the Reboxx socket hand tools were too short.  I replaced it with a similar tool from Micromark. This replacement works very well.

Another thing I do is add a bit of Elmer’s Slide-All Dry Spray Lubricant to the journal. I spray a little of this material into a small container and transfer the liquid to the journal with a micro brush. The liquid carrier dries quickly, leaving Teflon in the journal.

This is the same product recommended by the La Mesa Model Railroad Club in San Diego for lubricating truck journals on the very long trains they run up the grades of their scaled-down Tehachapi Loop.

Here is a link to the product: http://www.elmers.com/product/detail/E450

If you cannot find this at your local big box retailer or hardware store I recall the person in the video clip saying this product was available at lock-and-key shops. I bought mine at a full-line hardware store.

Bob Chaparro

Hemet, CA