Williams 773 Hudson

 You can try without the tires and see how she does. Some people don't bother with them on certain locos. You may lose some traction (go figure), but its not going to wear it out overnight.

  Performance issues & severity will depend a lot on the track you use too.

Look for wobbles, hopping, and shifting on the rails. Diving, or climbing up rails may increase as well as the train is possibly sitting different.

 Long term the ridges/edges of the channel the tire fits into would dull & round over, but that's a whole lot of running before it wont hold a new tire.

 Position placement of a tire varies. Most of my older stuff has only 1 tire . 

  I cant suggest as to who carries this one, except to say WbB should. But that price may be a bit high. I've used thin O-rings doubled up, and even dental rubber bands under those to even the height.

 Buy some extras, & keep them in a cool, dark, drawer. Some will last longer than others in that drawer, so don't buy too many extras, & try more than one dealers product. If they go bad, you have a few from a different material batch. 

Its not like they cost much.

 I broke down and bought some a few years back at a show.

 The parts box had 2 mini-plastic zip bags, 6 tires in each. Slot said 50¢. So I handed the guy a dollar, and began taking one from each parts bag. He laughed and told me I would be less likely to lose them if I just put both the envelopes in my pocket.

 Yep 6 for 50¢! Cheap and the first ones I replaced, have lasted longer than the originals did already. 

 I'd be curious to hear how it does without them too. A Williams Hudson would be nice.