when to service marklin 4-6-2 Pacific?

Ok so here is another noob question from me.

The sheet that came with the engine says to oil it every 20hrs of run time w/ marklin 7149 oil. How often should I really oil this thing? It is my understanding that too much lubricant can cause problems.
Also is there something better to use?

Thanks

Eric

Eric,
I believe most people will tell you to try Labelle 108, which I use. It comes with a very fine tip for better application. Personally, I don't find the 20 hrs of operation unreasonable, but it's alot like changing the oil in a car: depends on operating conditions.

Mark

ok,
perhaps I should have called this "how to service a marklin 4-6-2"

The train runs much better backward than it does forward. I cant seem to figure out why. Any ideas?

I only oil my engines when they look dry, and I use Labelle 108, as for different performance forward versus reverse I have found if the tension on the brushes are not matched then you can get a difference in forward versus reverse performance. I have also seen brushed that were not installed in the bronze strip correctly so they were tilted in the opening of the bronze strip and this leads to uneven wear on the contact surface of the brush, and at extremes it can lead to poor performance in one direction over the other