Bruette
Well-Known Member
logandsawman , That is good advice from Mike!
I just thought you may be interested in what actually is happening when you break in or "wear in" in a new locomotive. When it comes new from the factory the teeth of the gears have sharp squared edges. Break in is the process of wearing down those sharp edges. That is why it is important to run in both directions during wear in.
Excessive load on a new locomotive could possibly cause a tooth to break off of one of the gears, solo operation is the best and safest for wear in. The longer you run the engine the smother the operation of the gears will be.
I have even heard of some guys using a mild abrasive paste to hasten the process, but I think that is unnecessary and extreme, even foolish.
As a former industrial mechanic I prefer the term wear in as opposed to break in. I don't like to think of anything breaking.
For years manufactures of automotive, truck and industrial transmissions have rounded the teeth in manual transmissions.
An example of what can happen is the German Panther Tank. A brilliant piece of engineering that was domed because the teeth on the gears of the transmissions were not rounded. That oversight resulted in broken teeth, that could and in many cases did destroy the transmission. It also had some other oversights but I will keep to that for this example.
I hope that helps,
Louis
I just thought you may be interested in what actually is happening when you break in or "wear in" in a new locomotive. When it comes new from the factory the teeth of the gears have sharp squared edges. Break in is the process of wearing down those sharp edges. That is why it is important to run in both directions during wear in.
Excessive load on a new locomotive could possibly cause a tooth to break off of one of the gears, solo operation is the best and safest for wear in. The longer you run the engine the smother the operation of the gears will be.
I have even heard of some guys using a mild abrasive paste to hasten the process, but I think that is unnecessary and extreme, even foolish.
As a former industrial mechanic I prefer the term wear in as opposed to break in. I don't like to think of anything breaking.
For years manufactures of automotive, truck and industrial transmissions have rounded the teeth in manual transmissions.
An example of what can happen is the German Panther Tank. A brilliant piece of engineering that was domed because the teeth on the gears of the transmissions were not rounded. That oversight resulted in broken teeth, that could and in many cases did destroy the transmission. It also had some other oversights but I will keep to that for this example.
I hope that helps,
Louis
