Lubricator Pump

[builder01]

I would like to mount my lubricator pump on the left side of the locomotive on the running board, just forward of the water tank. The photo shows about where I would like to mount the pump. The pump arm will extend down through a a slot in the running board. My question is, instead of a connecting rod going from the pump arm to the bottom of the expansion link, would it be okay to connect it to the valve spindle fork? I understand, that depending on if the locomotive is "notched up", the valve spindle movement will vary a bit, effecting the distance of the movement of the pump arm. Would this be a problem as long as the oil pump is doing it's job? Is this ever done?

Connecting the pump arm to the expansion link will be quite awkward, as the connecting rod has to go through, or, around the motion plate. The 1-2-3 block represents the forward end of the water tank.

Sorry no photo. I had a feeling I would forget how to add a photo by the next time I needed to do so. It should be a simple thing to post a photo. I have no time to fool around decoding the process each time.

[uuu]

There are examples of lubricators driven from the valve spindle. Clutch better than ratchet in this system, as the movement could be too small to move one tooth on the ratchet. So if this is all you can achieve then it can obviously work.

But definitely better if you can find a way to join it to the expasion link. Think about top instead of bottom, or a little crank from the pivot point.

Wilf

[builder01]

Yes, I will investigate connecting the pump to the top of the expansion link. Things are pretty close there, but, it may be much easier to make a notch in the motion plate at the top, rather than a hole somewhere else to connect the pump arm to the bottom.

Thanks for the suggestion!