Traction tires.

[Anonymous]

Hello, everyone. Well I have been losing traction tires for some of my O guage trains, by pulling too long and too heavy of trains. I would like to know is if I should order the traction tires from Lionel for that locomotive. I have also heard that you can use
silocon instead of buying new traction tires. If any one can tell me on how they do it, and if it is safe to use one the loco itself. Thanks for the help! [:)]

[cacole]

In the HO world, most locomotives will run just fine without traction tires. Do the wheels have deep grooves cut into them for the tires? If they're not too deep, the engine should run the same.

You would probably get a much more informed answer if you posted your question over on the Classic Toy Trains forum, since that's where most Lionel people would be hanging out.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply, and I might most of there to see if someone esle can help. The locos i manily have problems without having the traction tires on are my steam locos. There is a grove in the wheels just deep enough to fit the tire, but the wieght of the train and metal wheels against metal track can barely pull a 5 car passenger train, and the locos are not heavy enough to use its own wieght for traction, it kind of stinks, becuase the tires are very fragile. Well thanks for the tip and I guess I'll be heading over to the classic toy trains forum. [:)]

[loathar]

I tried to go cheap on a HO steamer (YAAAHHH O.K. it's a Chattanooga Choo Choo) by
putting some like rubber O rings on it. But BOY did it get my track dirty! Chucked em pretty quick too. I think I'll go for urathane next time...

[Virginian]

Urethane will not help traction too much. It and most UHMW poly are both designed to be slippery. Rubber, butyl, and a lot of the neoprenes are good because they do stick good, and the synthetics are much more resistant to the oxygen in the air and petroleum products.
In HO I know where to get traction tires, but not O. I might try an auto parts supplier and see if they can get me some slightly undersized square edged 'O' rings. The make them in every size imaginable, but you may have to order 25 or 50, and they aren't too expensive. I haven't seen one of the 'make it yourself' O ring kits with square edged material in it, but they may be available too. If you have to make something from scratch, I'd try some butyl caulk for starters. On the plus side, that stuff is guaranteed for 50 years as caulk. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Ya if your Locomotive starts to sound like a UP SW1200,Then it's time to head for the shops.
Allan.

[pcarrell]

Seems to me that dental rubber bands like those used on braces might be the right size. I have no idea if it will work, but it is cheap.

[Anonymous]

I ran Marklin with traction tires for many years. They wear out. Go buy the ones made for your locomotive. The Marklin tires were not expensive. If traction tires don't fit perfectly, they make the loco wobble, don't track right, derailments etc. IMHO they don't cost enough to bother trying to make your own or adapt something made for another purpose. I would especially avoid any method that has you putting liquid/caulk on the wheel to try and make them that way. Big mess.

[mcouvillion]

John,

I try to avoid engines with traction tires. The darn things always goof up, break, slip, get dirty, whatever. I tried dental elastics (the tiny rubber bands used by orthodontists on braces) a long time ago (on HO) but they aren't cut true and wobbled a little. They come in various sizes, so it might be easy to get exactly the size you need. Traction improvement was OK. The suggestion to use square-profile O-rings is probably your best bet, short of getting Lionel replacements.

Could you replace the offending wheels and maybe add a little weight to the engine?

Mark C.