Do you rotate your train direction to equalize driver wheel wear from the curves ?
51% share holder in the ME&O ( Wife owns the other 49% )
ME&O
If you are talking about drive wheels on steam engines, no. On rolling stock a few times. Ones that come to mind where Athearn BB flat cars. Guess over 3 years I have replaced around 15 trucks due to ware.
Over a year ago I bought 20 sets of Athearn trucks off E-bay. Have not had a truck go bad after that? Go figuer!
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
UncBob Do you rotate your train direction to equalize driver wheel wear from the curves ?
No.
You'd have to run your trains like they do at a museum--hours every day--for this to be a real concern.
do you operate like UPS and avoid left turns whenever possible? i can't see this being an issue unless you just operate on a simple oval in one direction continuously. my layout has more right turns that left when running clockwise (timetable direction south) but since everything eventually goes through a reversing section nothing stays oriented the same way for very long.
grizlump
Wheel wear does happen regardless of which way you operate your engines.However,it takes years of use for the wheels to wear and under normal operating conditions there is no need for concern.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Certain model locomotives of the past -- the PEMCO GG-1 and Varney F3 come to mind -- had a mixture of pastic and metal powered wheels, and yes the plastic drive wheels would wear faster than the metal (and faster than plastic wheels that just go along for the ride)
I guess in theory always going the same direction through very tight curves would hasten the wear.
Of course a true craftsman would address the problem by regularly replacing the right-handed curved snap track with left handed curved snap track. Sure, that can get costly because you also need a supply of left handed cork roadbed, left handed track nails and a left handed hammer on hand, but wouldn't a well equipped modeler have that stuff anyway?
Dave Nelson
I have a couple of locomotives which show driver wear - but on the treads, not the flanges. Both (an ancient 0-4-0T and a late 19th century 0-6-0T) are old enough to run for President, and both have power pickups that rub on the treads. Tender locos almost as old show no detectable driver wear.
With my present, incomplete, layout, my locos only run a hundred meters a week, maximum, at appropriately low scale speeds. This will not increase very much, even after every millimeter of track is in place. Yes, there will be more train kilometers run - but there will be at least three times as many locomotives running, each only 60 meters or so on a busy operating 'day' of 24 fast-clock hours - 288 minutes, or 4 hours 48 minutes, probably spread over two or more real-world days. Total distance run per locomotive will remain just about what it is now.
My one area of concern is my DMU and EMU power cars, which are scheduled to rack up far more runs than the locomotives. Since they won't be operating until I finish the passenger staging yard (presently under construction) I have no way of knowing if they will suffer undue flange wear, or how much.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
If your rails and tires have the same profiles as the real things, then you should not get substantial wear. However, our models, rails and wheels alike, are not quite the same, particularly with the rails. They go around much sharper curves than do their real-world counterparts, so you would expect that the difference in radius from inner to outer rail is a greater fraction of the radius. This means that the outer tire is turning on a fixed axle at the same rate as the inner tire, which must in turn, logically, mean an imparted wear greater than when on a tangent. In the real world, the fraction of the total radius that the distance between the rails comprises is almost negligible...almost.
I don't run my trains much...perhaps each engine gets a total of 20 minutes per month these days, but even so I do run them around the turning loop every other session or four just to hedge my bets against them never wearing out at the rate I use 'em.
-Crandell
The Yuba River Sub has so many reverse curves on it, that theoretically all of my loco drivers should be getting equal wear.
I've never noticed any flange wear on any of my locos, and I've got some that I bought in the 1960's that are still going strong. Tread wear--yes. Some of my older brass locos have plating that is coming off exposing the brass underneath, and need cleaning a little more often than my newer locos, but since installing Tomar track-sliders between the drivers, even that little problem has rectified itself to a great degree.
But for flange wear, I think I'd have to run my locos FAR more than I do--almost uninterruptedly.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Hmm, sounds implausible to me. However, if that happened to my motive power, I'd take it as a sign I need to do more actual modeling.
"Step away from the RTR box, sir, so I don't have to tazer you.!"
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
FORGET ABOUT IT.
Now, if you're operating a 1:1 railroad, you will be concerned with wheel/flange and rail wear. For example, some long-wheel-based steam locomotives required bimonthly locomotive-driver tire replacement due to heavy flange wear.
Mark
mlehman Hmm, sounds implausible to me. However, if that happened to my motive power, I'd take it as a sign I need to do more actual modeling. "Step away from the RTR box, sir, so I don't have to tazer you.!"
This is very important when buying use brass locomotives especially steam locomotives as a example.
http://www.caboosehobbies.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=66525
What that tells me is the locomotive been heavily used over the years...Is it a bad model? No..It means the plating on the thread of the wheels has worn off and the wheels may need replace some time in the future.
The same can happen to any brand of locomotive if it sees excessive running over the years.
Under normal running it will take years for the wheels to show any sign of wear.
Having lived in Colorado most of my life and having visited Caboose Hobbies more than I care to admit...
What I find interesting is in the amount of Brass models they claim to have worn wheels. Some of these Brass models were produced in the early 80s and I know I have seen the exact same couple of models of D&RGW steamers since 1989, which Caboose has stated since then they had worn wheels.
Now, how does someone operate an unpainted Brass locomotive THAT much in let's say 6 years to warrant worn wheels?
I think in my opinion in regards to Caboose they state WORN WHEELS on just about everything as some sort of disclaimer. I have bought a dozen Brass models from them over the years, maybe 10 of them stated worn wheels. I have yet to see it.
Josh
I'm kind of with Josh on this, as I've done a lot of business with Caboose Hobbies over the years, buying from their large selection of brass consignment Rio Grande steam locomotives (which is just about the only way you can get Rio Grande steam anyway). About 7 or so of the locos were advertised with 'worn wheels' but when I got them, the plating was in fine shape. One little 2-8-0 I bought from them did have a little wearing on the plating, but since I install track shoes on all of my brass power as a matter of course, it didn't affect the running quality at all.
What I have found, through personal experience, is that cleaning the locomotive wheels with an abrasive wheel cleaner will remove plating over a period of time more quickly than just running them. So now I use alcohol and a Q-tip to clean the wheels (works just fine) and any plating that I DO lose, will be simply from running them.
markpierce FORGET ABOUT IT. Now, if you're operating a 1:1 railroad, you will be concerned with wheel/flange and rail wear. For example, some long-wheel-based steam locomotives required bimonthly locomotive-driver tire replacement due to heavy flange wear. Mark
Mark:
Yup. Like running a 4-10-2 through the snowsheds of Donner Pass--NOT!!
TA462 I have a Atlas GP40, a GO Train locomotive that has over 3000 hours of run time on it. It is run mostly at train shows for 4-8 hours a day non stop. It has no wear on the wheels. If your developing wear on your driver wheels its probably because the loco is of a lesser quality.
I have a Atlas GP40, a GO Train locomotive that has over 3000 hours of run time on it. It is run mostly at train shows for 4-8 hours a day non stop. It has no wear on the wheels. If your developing wear on your driver wheels its probably because the loco is of a lesser quality.
Yeah, I have a Bachmann with close to 2000 hours with no sign of wear. I also have an Ihc SD-24 with only a couple hundred hours and it IS showing wear.(nickle plated) Guess it really depends on the quality of the wheels.
I think TWHITE hit the nail on the head. Driver wear may not be so directly connected to actual running time than it is to what was used to clean the wheels. Using an abrasive block or even emery cloth is going to do far more damage than running a loco on train for numerous hours.
I guess think of it as doing burnouts in your car versus just driving it.
Q-tips and mineral spirits goes a long ways.