The only traction tires that I have ever had were on Tyco locomotives from the 1970s. They do add a lot of traction which is helpful for those locomotives since they only have two wheel drive unlike other locomotives like Athearn which have all wheel drive. Traction tires are just like a tire on your car. If you have a locomotive equipped with them you have to use them because the rim is made for them and they can’t run without them or you will just be running on the rim with no tire so you don't have a choice. It might be a good ideal to get spares when you have the chance but you don't really need to go out of your way for them unless they do break. I think I broke some by cleaning them with incompatible chemicals, or maybe they were damaged from the track. I don't remember. It was a very long time ago, but I do remember at least one set breaking.
I have a diesel switcher with one axle with traction tires. It's very light and probably wouldn't pull worth squat without them.
On the other hand, it's a good test engine to find dead spots. The traction tires take one of the four axles out of the power pick up chain so I need to depend on only three axles.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
It is interesting that there is such a wide variance of experiences. As the OP, I guess I will take them as they are for now and deal with any problems when they occur. Since I don't have any grades to deal with, I don't think I will be using any BFS. If they last 30 years, they will outlast me. In the meantime, I don't thnk I will go out and spend any effort to buy a spare set since shipping from Kato cost more than the tires. However, if I need to buy something from Kato in the future, I will probably pick up a set since they only cost about $2.00.
Paul D
N scale Washita and Santa Fe RailroadSouthern Oklahoma circa late 70's
Bad.
Ed
I recently bought a Rivarossi Hudson that was missing a traction tire. A Goodie's hair band was an excellect substitution. You can buy a package of them for a few dollars, and they will last for years.
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
selector "...good AND bad..." [Revision mine.] Then, one bright bulb pointed out that he had merely added a couple of drops of water, waited two weeks, and found it useful and in much the same condition as when it was new. There's a tip for ya.
"...good AND bad..." [Revision mine.]
Then, one bright bulb pointed out that he had merely added a couple of drops of water, waited two weeks, and found it useful and in much the same condition as when it was new. There's a tip for ya.
They are great when they are in good condition and you want your loco to pull more than it could without them. I inspected the rubbers on a BLI Pennsy I1a that I had purchased only about 18 months previously and was dismayed to find both of them with cracked surfaces. They seem to work okay, but it's disconcerting. I don't think the material is very good if it doesn't stand up to mostly resting inside its carton...which is where all of my locos spend 95% of their lives so far since I rarely have more than three on the layout at a time.
BFS? I have a BLI Niagara that could barely haul itself, two reefers, and three Walthers NYC heavies up my 3.3% grade. Interestingly, BLI slipped an added note into the shipment saying that in their estimation this one edition of 4-8-4 is sufficiently heavy to not require a driver set with rubbers, which they often include with their locos as a matter of course. So, when the proprietor of BFS was looking for people to trial it and to give honest reviews, I asked for a bottle and applied it to three locomotives, including the initial Paragon S1b that I'm talking about. I soon found that it could pull two more heavyweights, making it a much more appealing and realistic consist on the main. I added another, and it made it up the same grade. So, my recommendation is that you consider BFS. It works. It doesn't last forever, and must be scraped off eventually. Also, users universally report that even if it is used only once, briefly, and sealed well once again, you'll find it like silly putty the next time you go to use it. This caused many of us a lot of dismay because those small paint-bottle sizes are expensive! Then, one bright bulb pointed out that he had merely added a couple of drops of water, waited two weeks, and found it useful and in much the same condition as when it was new. There's a tip for ya.
Hi,
On another fourm someone asked about using Bullfrog Snot as a replacement for a traction tire but he never got a reply that I know of, but it did make me wonder if it would work and for how long.
Thanks, Ralph
I would prefer not to have them, though they are on a number of my steamers.
One probem on steam locos is that the driver rod(s) must be disconnected to get new tire on. I have a Genesis Challenger where a tire came off the rim, perhaps due to being stretched when (doing its job) I had a rather long string of cars being pulled up hill. After putting the tire back in its groove, it occasionally came loose after that, so I concluded it was stretched (rather than manufactured too large, also a possibility).
Whatever the case, when I tried to loose the rods, I managed to break the eccentric or whatever rod, requring a part (assembly, actually) from Athearn and technical advise as to exactly how to properly replace things.
So, I am not a fan. If dual locos needed, I would rather consist 2 or more. I'm in HO, do not know if N is more demanding.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
Guy at the club had a loco with them on. Ran a train into a tunnel. Unseen, a car derailed and train got stuck. Naturally, when a train goes in and doesn’t come out engineer thinks he hasn’t applied enough power and turns up controller. Because traction tire doesn’t allow driver to slip, motor was powerful enough to spin tire off the wheel.
Then the search for a replacement tire began.
None of my diesel fleet has traction tires but I just got a Kato GS-4 4-8-4 and it has traction tires on one wheel set. I don't have any recent experience with traction tires so it got me to thinking about how I take care of them. Some questions
1) How long can I expect them to last and need to be replaced?
2) Don't know how long Kato will stock them. Should I buy a spare set now? If so, will they deteriotate over time and become a wasted effort to buy them now?
3) Are they even needed? Will my loco run OK without them? My layout it totally flat with no grades so I would expect that the loco would run OK.
4) I see tires sold in various placed and they are measured in mm. They do not make any claim to match a specific tire sold by any mfg. Can I measure my tire and buy an equivalent size and then expect them to operate OK?
5) Most likely failure mode? Will they just dry rot or be chewed up by rough spots in the rails such as rail joint or frogs.