Ever get a flat spot on any wheels from the car or engine sitting too long? I noticed I have an engine that has been sitting for years and there is a tiny flat spot. Weird
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Originally Posted by Andrew87:
Ever get a flat spot on any wheels from the car or engine sitting too long?
No.
I noticed I have an engine that has been sitting for years and there is a tiny flat spot. Weird
Maybe the traction tire is flattened?
Originally Posted by Andrew87:
Ever get a flat spot on any wheels from the car or engine sitting too long? I noticed I have an engine that has been sitting for years and there is a tiny flat spot. Weird
How on earth does a METAL wheel "flatten" by sitting on a shelf, track, box, whatever?
The ONLY way flat spots will occur is if something is dragging the locked wheels around. I remember when I was the engineer over on the 2 foot gauge trains at the park, a bit too heavy of an application on the air brakes would sometimes cause the wheels to lock on wet rails and slide. Extra care was taken to make sure that didn't happen but sometimes you just can't avoid it.
Flat spots on the locomotive traction tires is very common. Many are flat spotted when they come out of the box, because they sit in there several on the slow boat from china.
Flat spots on traction tires will usually come out with some running, or time on a shelf while resting on the flanges.
I used to get a flat spot on my big wheel when I was a kid but if you have one on your steel train wheel its not from sitting lol.Nick
I have seriously been considering taking my Dremel tool and (intentionally) grinding a flat spot on at least one wheel. I think a prototypical thump-thump-thump in the consist is going to be neat....
Gilly
On the traction tires yes...
Originally Posted by Gilly@N&W:
I have seriously been considering taking my Dremel tool and (intentionally) grinding a flat spot on at least one wheel. I think a prototypical thump-thump-thump in the consist is going to be neat....
Gilly
Or maybe a few random dabs of hot glue?
Bonus: it's reversible.
---PCJ
If you do add something to the wheel for a "thump thump thump" make sure you add it to the outer most part to minimize the thump. I know that sounds counter intuitive but just the SLIGHTEST dirt on the inner part of a wheel makes a big thump when moving along at speed. Of course this only applies if you are running angled wheels which most cars should be I think.
The dremel might be the best way to go because you can take off just a little at a time until you get the right thump.
How's this for a flat spot!!!
read an article about a Union Pacific
DD40X Centennial Locomotive.
They had gotten one of these big stump pullers
stuck in an area where the ground had softened
and the rails had spread, so the 6 axle unit could not
move. So they backed another DD40X Centennial Locomotive
up to it and coupled it up hoping to pull the first one out.
There was a rookie engineer at the helm of the second unit
and instead of easing into the pull, he jambed it into forward
creating 16 crescent shaped gouges into the rail heads.
the stuck unit did not move.
