I WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT REPLACEMENT WHEELS FOR TIN PLATE LOCOS

Try George Tebolt or Hennings.

Usually drive gears must be bought separately and mounted by either carefully peening over the mounting lugs or gluing with epoxy or JB weld. I used to use a drill press, but found I couldn't drive them straight and they would always wobble. Not until I invested in some decent wheel press tooling from Toy Train Reproductions (TTRP) and a good arbor press could I press them on straight.

Sources for prewar wheels are pretty hard to find as some key suppliers have dropped out (MEW and Bowser). Hennings has picked up the MEW line and has advertised to start making prewar wheels soon (hopefully before April York). You should check their web site or call.

Henning's does sell a complete wheel set, but the one side also requires the gears, which don't come with the wheel set.  The gears are SLS-45, and require some serious filing to get them to fit.  I just pulled the gears off of my 248 that had zinc pest on the geared wheels, removed the gear, so I could reuse the gear.  I purchased two new wheels, filed both gear and inside of wheel, until it would fit.  Then I used JB Weld between the wheel and gear to ensure it would remain in place.  It worked perfectly for me.  

The 258 is a different story, and I don't own the version you are dealing with.  You will have to do some extensive searching to find what you need.

I did a "Google" search for 257-7 and Dew Associstes sells a 4 wheel set @ $49.95, but there are no gears attached either.  If you have a really bad set now, you can possibly try and remove the gear from your existing set, then attach them to the new set.  As mentioned in my other post, I reused the gears on the 248 loco.  The geared side had very bad zinc pest, and I just broke the wheel apart, until I could remove the gear to reuse it on a new set of drive wheels.  You have to adapt and overcome sometimes! You can use a thin coat of JB Weld to keep the gears attached to the wheels.

I went back onto Henning's site and checked for the wheels for a early 258 (257-7 by the typical references).  Henning's sells the 257 wheel listed as either 257B (Black) or 257R (Red) at $5 each, without the gear.  Jeff Kane (Toy Train Tender) also has the wheels (red spoke) listed as SLS-257-7 down in the Prewar section, under Alpha listings.  His price is $4 each, again without the gear.

Replacement wheels for the electric Lionel 'O' locos. are always sold w/o the gears, but the gears are available separately for those that need them. You would usually begin by  removing the steel gear from the old die cast wheel w/ use of a grinding wheel or hand file. When you have ground or filed down to the steel, use a straight blade screw driver to 'pry' off the gear.The gear is attached to the new wheel by laying the gear on top of the square hub of the wheel. It should 'tap' down snugly w/ the use of a hammer, ( I have used an old 5/8" tool socket to set it down over the square hub). At this point you would use a flat end punch to rollover the 4 cornors of the hub. There should be no space between the gear and the wheel.  With the gear now in place, You have a choice, Use of a drill press with the axle secured is your best bet to get the axle inserted straight w/o our special "AXLE TOOL". The Axle tools are available in both "O" or "STD" gauge, and are only $15.00 each.  If you are going to be repairing both pre & post war trains, it may pay you to buy the complete beginner press set,  All of the tooling is listed and pictured on our web site. The wheels from Jeff Kane at 'The Train Tender',  are what you want for the #248.  The 258 was actually mfg. as 2 different locos. One w/ the die cast frame, and a later one w/ the sheet metal fame. Here again, 2 completely different sets of wheels. The earlier set mounts the gear the same  as the 248. The later version the gear may be part of the die cast wheel.  Hope this helps somewhat. 

We also stock and sell Jeff's "O" wheels.  Harry

I agree with Harry.  I've been doing it that way for over 20 years and replaced over 100 wheels.  I usually stake the corners of the "square" with a small chisel that I made specifically for that purpose.  Be aware that some wheel sets are gauged too wide for the frame and will bind on the track, especially the curves. I usually trim the hub inside the wheel on my lathe to narrow the gauge, if necessary.  Since the axles are not knurled, if they slip on the axle if removed/installed to much, just mar the axle with the cutter on a pair of linesmen pliers so that the axle will bite into the wheel.