Railking 2-8-0 Throwing Traction Tires

Yes, you can, and I've done it, but I'd be more concerned as to what the root cause is. Are the tires old and dry rotted? Are they swollen from oil or grease? What's the track work like? Any of these things can wreak havoc on traction tires.

Chris

LVHR

Some questions that may help:

1) Are you sure you've got the correct size traction tires? What size are they? (MTH number)

2) Is the traction tire coming off the same wheel every time or different wheels?

3) Was the tire stretched excessively during installation?

4) Is the tire fully into the wheel groove so that the engine doesn't wobble as it runs?

5) Is a piece of the old traction tire left in the wheel groove?

6) How many cars is the engine pulling? Run engine alone at first.

7) Apply throttle slowly so wheels do not spin.

8) Are both motors running at the same speed? Do the worm gears need lubricant?

I've been running MTH locomotives for 23 years and have never needed or used glue to secure a traction tire. Shouldn't be necessary.

MELGAR

I abhor gluing traction tires on, I don't think it really helps.  If they're fitted properly and there's not an issue with the locomotive, it's certainly not necessary.

DE0000023 should be the correct tire if I read the chart correctly.

What radius track is he running it on?  How is the track, is it new, old, fastened down, overall condition, aligned properly?  Is this happening in one area of the layout?

I had a rash of tires come off lately, but I feel it was mostly from age of the tires.  I do have a Weaver 4-6-0 that just threw a tire, but I have no way to determine what caused it.  I haven't replaced it yet because I plan on doing some updates to the engine and I'll do it when I do the updates.

I use 2 small flat head screwdrivers and a coupler of metal clamps when I put on new tires.  The clamps keep the tire from coming off and the screwdrivers are used to go around the wheel as I put on the tire.  It's that or I need to grow a 3rd hand.

I've replaced a few tires where the diameter of the new tire was good, but the width of the tire was too wide.  I install the tire then take a new single-edged razorblade and, with the engine upside down, trim the width while it's running.  So far it has worked well.

Checking the latest MTH Traction Tire file (2020), it shows a DE-0000023 traction tire for a Railking 2-8-0 consolidation. At the top of the DE-0000023 column, it says "DE-0000022 - use this in its place." The DE-0000022 tire has smaller diameter (22 millimeters) and appears to not be offered now. The current tire recommendation is DE-0000023 which has a larger diameter (23 millimeters). I think that might explain your problem. I stocked up on MTH traction tires a few months ago and requested tire sizes from the previous chart. They filled some of my order with slightly larger sizes from the 2020 chart. It seems that MTH no longer offers traction tires in the original recommended sizes and the new ones may be too large. Just a guess on my part but perhaps that's the reason for your problem.

MELGAR

@MELGAR posted:

Some questions that may help:

1) Are you sure you've got the correct size traction tires? What size are they? (MTH number)

Yes, I ordered the DE-0000023 traction tires MTH recommends for a Railking Consolidation 2-8-0.

2) Is the traction tire coming off the same wheel every time or different wheels?

Coming off same wheel

3) Was the tire stretched excessively during installation?  No

4) Is the tire fully into the wheel groove so that the engine doesn't wobble as it runs?

Yes

5) Is a piece of the old traction tire left in the wheel groove?

No

6) How many cars is the engine pulling? Run engine alone at first.

5 or 6 cars

7) Apply throttle slowly so wheels do not spin.

8) Are both motors running at the same speed? Do the worm gears need lubricant?

I've been running MTH locomotives for 23 years and have never needed or used glue to secure a traction tire. Shouldn't be necessary.

MELGAR

Melgar, maybe MTH did send me DE-0000023 traction tires, will check and see.

Nick,

As I said above, the original tire recommended was DE-22. Apparently, they no longer have that size so the recommendation in the latest chart is DE-23, 1 millimeter larger diameter. If you have DE-23, I think that's the most likely cause of your problem. Let us know. It's possible that an MTH dealer might have DE-22 in stock.

MELGAR