Caked wheels on tenders

[ChiefEagles]

I was servicng the 1950's Lionel tenders and noticed that on the right side [right side only] all the wheels on the front and back trucks were caked with something hard. It was almost like they had a very thin traction tire on them. I used a little flat blade screw driver and cleaned it off. It peeled off in chunks. Then cleaned them with alcohol. I've seen wheels get drity and have a black coating but not this thick. Funny, both tenders. All of the left wheels were not coated. Now remeber they have been store for 20 years.

[Big_Boy_4005]

That's what you have to do Frank. Did you catch the big discussion about track cleaning and gunk a couple of weeks ago? The general concensus was that oil on the rails mixed with dust caused the crud, and it then collects on the wheels. The fact that only one side has all the buildup suggests that that the oil may be from the gears. What engines were pulling them???

[ChiefEagles]

1952 2055 Hudson and a 1950's steam turbine.

[Anonymous]

ever since i totally cleaned my locos and re lubed with the labelle grease i've had very little oiley/greasey schmutz on the tracks.

[Buckeye Riveter]

Chief, did the crude show up on any other cars? Try some GOO-Gone to clean your wheels with a Q-Tip. I also use it to clean the track. Woodsy is right, use the Labelle oils and grease for the locos.

[Big_Boy_4005]

The 2055 is a good suspect. The gears are are located on one side, just inside the drivers. Of course left and right are relative terms, depending on your point of view. Is the the crud on the same side as the gears when the engine pulling the tender?

The turbine's gears are on the inside, so that doesn't fit the pattern. Of course this entire theory is based on the idea that you normally ran the trains the same direction on the track most of the time. If that is not the case, I have a backup theory handy, honest.[swg]

The real question to me, is not how to clean it, but rather what caused it to happen? Why one side and not the other? One of life's little mysteries.[:0][?][;)]

[ben10ben]

I've never seen "crud" on just one side of a tender or piece of rolling stock. This is very strange.

By the way, as far as removing it, the quickest and easiest way is to press a dremel tool with a steel wire brush up against the wheel for a few seconds. This will get the wheels spotless, and will also make it easy to spot any wobbly wheels or bent axles.

[ChiefEagles]

Cars, boats, planes, trucks and trains; from the rear looking forward. The old track was dual line with switches to move to either side and reverse at several places. They did not run in the same directional circle. I was guessing like you but the turbine blows the theroy.

[dougdagrump]

Sure it wasn't a little B'day cake from Big Boy ?

[Big_Boy_4005]

Well, so much for that theory. So, I guess that we can conclude that the crud forming potential is equal on each of the outside rails. The source of the crud is no longer the issue. This begs the question, why does crud perfer one side of the train over the other?

Here's my backup theory. I think that it is safe to say that a crud buildup does not suddenly happen, it's more of a snowballing effect. Once it gets a chance to take hold of a wheel, the deposition process will continue until you notice the car leaning to one side, or it simply derails due to lack of flange exposure, or perhaps you hear a small thumping noise as it bounces along the rails.

ELECTRICITY??? Assuming that crud is non-conductive, and knowing that electricity takes the path of least resistance, the crud is forced to choose a side and stick to it, literally. If the tender was only slightly heavier on one side, that side would be pressed harder to the rail, thus allowing the crud to begin to collect on the opposite side. The wheel with the better electrical contact would be favored to stay clean.

Of course it could just be random, and two tenders are not a very large sample.

By the way, I'm not trying to make fun of this situation. I'm trying to understand and explain it, because it has happened to me too. [swg]

[MartyE]

I purchased some cars about 10 years back... All of them had the "crud" on the wheels. Can't really say they preferred one side to the other. I took a razor blade and carefully scrapped the crud away. I can tell you it is non conductive because my isolated 3rd rails did not work until I got rid of the crud.

[FJ and G]

Perhaps an answer to the mystery of crud on one side?

Running the locomotive really fast in only one direction around and around and around an oval of track, grease and oil flying in the direction of the centrifical motion.

dav

[daan]

I guess it's collected there where the wheels slip in a curve. Which is mostly the inner side. The wheels there move faster than the track is moving underneath and they scrape the dirt off the track. The loose dirt now lies on the track and the first wheels running over it will pick it up.
What I'm curious at, is if this was on tubular or model rail. Tubular rail shouldn't have this effect, because there is no flat surface the dirt can lay down and wait for some wheel to come.