Weaver Brass Steam

You could try Bullfrog Snot. I have heard it works well, though never tried it myself.

Rod

Thanks I heard of that approach but will continue to pursue tires. In the meantime I just installed 4 MTH DE-27 tires. they are a bit wide for the grooves with some over hang which I believe is causing the engine to run rough over switches

Steve

You might try contacting 3rd Rail. The wheel grooves on their engines are pretty thin. You will have to do a little reseach to compare the driver diameter of your engine to the ones that they produced.

Pete

Believe it or not, I have cut wider traction tires down to a width that will fit the narrower grooves of engines such as Weaver's.  It's not that hard, but there are a couple things I found important to the success of this technique.

First, a fresh #11 blade in the hobby knife...or fresh blade in the utility knife.

Secondly, a steel rule that will lie flat against the material to be cut....i.e., no undercut edge on the rule.

So, judge the amount of the tire width to be trimmed to fit the groove.

Collapse the tire diametrically using the steel rule, keeping the edges of the tire aligned.  Carefully and firmly position the edge of the rule to evenly reveal the amount of the collapsed tire to be trimmed off.

Then, keeping the knife blade square to the rule edge, make a couple light passes until the trimmed edge pops free.   (Need I say to keep the tips of your rule-holding pinkies free of the cutting zone????....voice of experience here!)

Good lighting, and a steady hand (glass of vino works for me!) helps, too.

It may sound a bit daunting to read through, but it's really quite easy.

BTW, we (LHS) sell Bullfrog Snot to modelers of all scales.  They all seem quite pleased with the results.  I'm 'old school', so the knife&rule are my paradigm, if you will.  TEHO, of course.

FWIW, always...

KD

I hold them up and trim them freehand, works pretty well.  I use this tool...

The same problem exists with the MTH Premier GE/Alco/Ingersoll-Rand boxcab.  The MTH loco manual says to slice down the stock tire.

KD, John

I will try cutting down the width of the traction tires.  The feedback is appreciated very much !!

Steve

Lionel has some tires that are thinner and work for Weaver and William engines.  The early weaver had the same width as William, later they went for the wider tire.  G