Lubrication Overview

Some vehicle drivetrains have complex mechanisms, such as running gear, that need to be actively lubricated in order to function properly. This is prevalent in steam locomotives .

Such vehicles typically carry oil in an onboard storage. Its amount is shown on the left meter of an automatic lubricator .

On some vehicles, some of the lubrication is accomplished by automatic mechanisms .

However, due to leaks, many lubrication components run dry over time, especially if a vehicle has been sitting parked for a while. This is when manual lubrication is needed, too.

If any of the lubrication systems are lacking oil, the drivetrain will produce unpleasant screeching noise. If no action is taken it may quickly result in catastrophic damage to the drivetrain.