Hello,
Would anyone on this site know just exactly what was entailed when a railroad serviced a car and stenciled on the REPKD.plus date ,location and road abr.name?Most early stm.era truck journals used oil for lube with some form of cotton waste material to transfer the oil and wipe it on the journals,so where does the" repacked "come into it.Were journals checked routinely on cars from foreign roads and how and when would this be done.Obviously the early style brasses would have needed much more attention than todays fit it and forget it roller bearings.So how was this managed for a car that was 3000 miles from it's home road?
Regards,Dan Gledhill


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On Nov 23, 2007, at 11:35 AM, Dan Gledhill wrote:

Would anyone on this site know just exactly what was entailed when a
railroad serviced a car and stenciled on the REPKD.plus date ,location
and road abr.name?Most early stm.era truck journals used oil for lube
with some form of cotton waste material to transfer the oil and wipe
it on the journals,so where does the" repacked "come into it.Were
journals checked routinely on cars from foreign roads and how and when
would this be done.Obviously the early style brasses would have needed
much more attention than todays fit it and forget it roller
bearings.So how was this managed for a car that was 3000 miles from
it's home road?

In the 1950s, various types of patented journal lubricating devices
began to appear, and the use of these became widespread in the 1960s.
Prior to that, however, journal lubrication was accomplished exactly as
Dan describes. Periodically (typically, about once a year) the cotton
waste would pack down and deteriorate to the point where it needed to
be replaced, and the carmen who inspected and lubricated journals would
remove the old stuff, put in new stuff, and fill the lower part of the
journal box with oil. The old repacking data on the car would then be
painted over and new data stenciled on.

Richard Hendrickson

Dan,

This is an excerpt from my book, Coal Cars: The First Three Hundred Years,
regarding the repacking of journal bearings. The book should be out in a
few weeks.

Repacking Journal Bearings

Journal bearings were a critical maintenance item on
railroads. Hot boxes resulting from poorly maintained journal bearings
caused delays and derailments. To prevent these problems, journal boxes
were routinely opened, inspected, and refilled with oil during each
interchange. In addition, strict guidelines for their repacking were
established by the A.R.A. under Rule 66 of the Code of Rules.
Repacking journal bearings was a labor intensive process. The
rules required that the journal boxes be jacked, that all journal wedges be
removed, inspected, and replaced as necessary, and that the journal boxes
be cleaned and repacked in accordance with association guidelines. Only
after all journal boxes on the car had been repacked could the stencil be
applied indicating that they had been repacked. The rules required that
the place, month, day and year, and the reporting marks of the repacking
railroad be stenciled on the car body near the bolster at diagonal corners
with not less than one inch figures and letters.28
Over time, the rules regarding the interval between repacking of
the journals changed. Prior to March 1, 1929, the rule stated that
journals "should be repacked when necessary, using properly prepared
packing (new or renovated) in accordance with Recommended Practice, at
which time all packing should be removed from the boxes and boxes cleaned;
dust guards to be renewed (if necessary) or replaced when wheels are
changed."29 From March 1, 1929 through 1932, Rule 66 stated journal boxes
should be repacked "after the expiration of twelve months,"30 and from 1933
through 1955, the interval was fifteen months.31 In 1956, the interval was
extended to eighteen months,32 and in 1958, the interval for cars equipped
with journal lubricating devices was extended to twenty-four
months.33 When a journal lubricating device was used, it would be
indicated near the repacking stencil, as seen in Figure 7.12.
In 1950, the A.A.R. inserted Rule 66a governing the maintenance of
roller bearings into its Rules of Interchange. Under this rule, railroads
were required to lubricate the roller bearings every twelve months. The
place, month, day, and year of lubrication and the reporting marks of the
railroad doing the lubrication along with the symbol "LUB" were to be
stenciled near the body bolster at diagonal corners with not less than one
inch figures and letters. Examples are shown in Figure 7.12.34 In 1958,
this interval was modified slightly. The interval for roller bearings
lubricated with oil remained at twelve months, but the interval for those
lubricated with grease was extended to eighteen months.35

Bob Karig

Dan,

I realized that I hadn't finished answering your question.

If the repacking interval was expiring while the car was on a foreign
road, the foreign road would repack the journal bearings for which it
would be reimbursed based upon a standard rate established in the Code
of Rules for Interchange...

This is one of those often overlooked details in modeling. If you're
modeling a particular year, then the repacking information should fall
within the appropriate repair interval. The same principles apply to
reweigh information.

Bob Karig

I'd like to make a couple of additions/changes.....

Bob Karig wrote:

snip<
From March 1, 1929 through 1932, Rule 66 stated journal
boxes should be repacked "after the expiration of twelve months,"

I have no information prior to 1932 but the 1932 Code of Rules' rule
66(a) says " Periodic repacking of journal boxes, after the expirartion
of fifteen months, as indicated by the stenciling on car, regardless of
the responsibility of handling company for change of wheels or other
repairs. After the expiration of twelve months, if car is on repair track
for other work, journal boxes may be repacked at same time."

from 1933 through 1955, the interval was fifteen months. In 1956, the

interval was
extended to eighteen months, >snip<

I have a lack of information between 1933 and 1944 but some time prior to
January 1944 rule 66(a) was changed and the twelve month interval was
increased to fourteen months. Rule 66(a) was changed again in the 1951
Code of Rules and the intervals became twelve months and eleven months.
With the 1953 Code rule 66(a) was again changed, now the intervals are
back to fifteen months and fourteen months. The change to eighteen month
and seventeen month intervals came with the 1955 Code of Rules.

snip<

Thanks for the repacking info, for such a small detail a lot of time can
be consumed getting it 100% right. I try for believable.

Later,
Bill Kelly

Good catch, Bill.

The change from 15 months/14 months took place effective with the 1939 code of rules.

Bob