On 10/18/2007 10:50 AM Jon Miller spake thus:
Alright, I just want to hammer a few nails into that particular coffin ("plastic compatibility").
Folks: it's *bullshit*, plain and simple. Or model-railroading urban legend. Call it what you want.
That's not to say that there may have been a time, back in the Paleolithic Lionel Era, where there actually were some types of plastic that could be harmed (softened, dissolved, deformed) by certains types of oil.
Those days are gone. I challenge anyone to find a type of plastic in use today that can be harmed by any lubricant that a model railroader might apply (assuming that said lubricant is one easily available on the market, not some super-exotic NASA brew or something like that).
No oil will harm your plastic models. (Which is not to say, of course, that you shouldn't be careful about slopping oil all over plastic surfaces; it still is a very good idea to use it *sparingly* and to only get it where it's needed, between the moving parts.)