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You can buy everything you need for routine maintenance of an old train at your local auto parts store, although it helps to have a hobby shop nearby. Personally, I use Labelle #107 oil and #106 grease to lubricate my trains, because it’s what my local repair shop recommends. Hobby shops that carry trains and/or slot cars will have these Labelle products. I specifically use #107 oil and #106 grease because neither will eat plastic if they remain in contact with it.
When the Labelle 107 oiler that I’m using is empty, I’m going to refill it with automotive motor oil. A quart will cost me less than $3 and should last for decades. I’ll use this on metal trains and buy another Labelle 107 to use on trains that have some plastics in them.
If you can't find Labelle products locally, a good substitute for the Labelle grease is Lucas Red'n'Tacky grease, sold at auto parts stores. Some people prefer the Lucas product to Labelle grease regardless. It's best to try to get a plastic-compatible oil if you can, but automotive oils work well on metal and are inexpensive. If you can't get an oiler like Labelle provides, apply a bit of oil to a toothpick and use the toothpick to apply the oil where you need it.
The general rule is that you grease gears and oil wheels and axles. Apply one drop of oil (which is where the oiler that Labelle 107 comes in handy) to the axle on either side of the wheel. Spin the wheel before and after and note the difference. Put a bit of oil on the wheels on all of your locomotives and cars, and if your locomotive has pickup rollers to get power off the center rail, oil those the same way as you would oil wheels.
To grease gears, apply a dab of grease to the teeth, then rotate the driver wheels to distribute the grease more evenly.
The difference is noticeable. Your locomotive will pull longer consists more easily, and the parts will wear out more slowly, increasing everything's life expectancy.
There is some advice floating around out there to use petroleum jelly, WD-40, and other inexpensive household lubricants, the logic being that the original instruction sheets suggested using petroleum jelly. Since I own sets of original instruction sheets, I can verify it’s what they said, but I absolutely don't recommend it. Remember the context of the advice: These were inexpensive toys given to children, not necessarily by people of means. Petroleum jelly was (and remains) a household item, inexpensive, probably sold in the same stores as the trains, better than nothing, and probably adequate for something that kids will play with for three or four years until they outgrow it.
There are better choices available today, so I suggest using them. Older lubricants (particularly petroleum jelly) break down, gum up and worst yet, seize up over time. Modern synthetic greases and oils are more stable and contain additives to make them work well for long periods of time without causing problems.
When it comes to cleaning locomotives, there's some questionable advice out there too. While I know people who've had success with WD-40, I've messed trains up with it. The best way to clean one without disassembling it is to douse it with zero-residue contact cleaner. CRC is one such brand, readily available at hardware stores. Spray internal, hard-to-reach areas with the contact cleaner, let it drip out (carrying the dirt and contaminants with it), let it dry, and then repeat if necessary. Apply fresh grease and oil, and chances are pretty good the train will run.
In one case I dunked a stubborn motor in an ultrasonic cleaner with water and detergent and ran the ultrasonic cleaner for about 15 minutes. The motor came out completely clean and ran fine once I gave it some grease and oil. I wouldn't do this with a motor that had a fluid-based smoke unit, but it's a quick and easy fix for other motors. An entry-level ultrasonic cleaner costs about $40, which will buy a lot of contact cleaner, but if you have other uses for the ultrasonic cleaner it might be a worthwhile investment for you. As soon as my wife saw how well the ultrasonic cleaner cleaned her jewelry, she was more than happy about having the gadget in her house.
When reviving an old train, be sure to run it at least 10 minutes a day for about a week. It seems to take a while for these old toys to get used to running again. But once they’re used to running again, they tend to be very reliable.
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