Rubber tire bands that crack and break

No, not all tires are equal. Not all black rubber is the same compound. If it's true in real car tires, it's true at the model scale as well. I've found that some brands and sizes of tires- example Lionel don' last as long as an MTH or Williams replacement tire. https://www.fournierrubber.com/blog/rubber-types/

Yes, it also "could be" your environment. Ozone, sunlight, oil, smoke fluid, track cleaner, and any other chemical present can effect the rubber differently again, depending on the compound of the rubber. Example I got a brand spanking new old stock Lionel Albert Hall engine that has never been run original packaging and was missing remote. The tires on it are a larger size rim (same as Hogwarts) and whatever rubber Lionel used- something either in the packing, oil, smoke fluid interacts with that rubber and turns it into just a gummy mess. Again something interacted and th engine never even ran one inch on the track.

So no, I highly doubt it is your track -especially with the rubber degradation symptom of drying out and cracking off- VS being stretched and just then roll off the wheels under stress. That is simply the rubber degrading because of it's chemical makeup and the environment (sunlight, oxygen, ozone, and any other chemical or fume exposure).

Again my advice is change the brand of rubber tire and find something else that fits your rim. Just saying, change the one variable - tire rubber compound by changing the source of your replacement tire when it's hard or difficult to change all the other parameters (environment).

does anyone know a tire source other than Lionel?

Jackie

MTH Parts and Sales - Traction Tires

Are you using anything special for cleaning your track? Could be a chemical reaction.

Yes but not very often .......GOO Gone....

@William Jack posted:

Yes but not very often .......GOO Gone....

Never tried or used that. Must it be removed? (Have only used denatured alcohol.)

Have used Goo gone, works very well on metal wheels but attacks rubber so it shouldn't be used on traction tires.

@William Jack posted:

does anyone know a tire source other than Lionel?

Jackie

Jackie,

Try Port Lines hobbies, using his website is a little confusing but he has many traction tires. With a little time you should find what you need. He claims his tires to be superior to the rest.

Ray

As an afterthought, there is a thread on the forum about cleaning track, I myself use mineral spirits applied with a Flyer track cleaning car and followed by a second track cleaning car with dry pads. I found that Goo Gone left residue on the track and for me caused to many problems. My computer is down now or I would post a link to the thread.

@William Jack posted:

Yes but not very often .......GOO Gone....

Goo Gone is the problem.  There are many reasons why you should not use GG for cleaning anything to do with your track or wheels, traction tires is just one of them.  If you do use GG for cleaning, stay away from anything rubber and wash the GG off with mineral spirits.

As Ray mentioned, there are many track & wheel cleaning threads on this forum -- a lot of reading but worth it in the end.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

OH! boy...... could that be the problem! That will be easy enough to resolve.   I believe that train store that I bought my cleaning car from put me on Go Gone...... Mineral spirts sound like a good idea. I will try that.........Thanks everyone!!!!

Jackie

@William Jack posted:

OH! boy...... could that be the problem! That will be easy enough to resolve.   I believe that train store that I bought my cleaning car from put me on Go Gone...... Mineral spirts sound like a good idea. I will try that.........Thanks everyone!!!!

Jackie

Jackie,

Check out this thread on cleaning wheels:

https://ogrforum.com/...eaning-wheels?page=2

Scroll about 1/4 the way down and you should find a bunch of links in one of my posts.  There is more info those links than you probably want to know.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

I have been using a citrus based cleaner for cleaning my tracks for 15 years now.  I very seldom have to replace traction tires.

@RON ARNDT 091718 posted:

I have been using a citrus based cleaner for cleaning my tracks for 15 years now.  I very seldom have to replace traction tires.

Hi Ron,

I think it has to do with actually using GG on the traction tires rather than the track.  Using GG on the track has it's own set of problems.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine