Hornby Traction Tyres

[southernelectric]

My PECO PL-40 wheel cleaning kit arrived in the post today. I have mostly Bachmann locos, couple of Heljans and Dapols, but a few Hornby steam locos too. On the instructions for the PL-40 it says not to use on any loco with traction tyres.

 

As I'm still a complete and utter novice at all of this can somebody explain:

 

1. What exactly are traction tyres?

 

2. I am posting the question mainly because I read somewhere, forget where exactly, that some Hornby locos have traction tyres? How will I know if mine do or don't? All my Hornby locos are super-detailed models (Clan Line, Flying Scotsman and Mallard) if that makes any difference.

 

3. Finally, are any of Bachmann's, Hejan's or Dapol's locomotives fitted with these type of tyres?

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

1 Rubber tyres on the driven wheels.

 

2 Relatively little seen in the last dozen year's new OO productions. Hornby's early class 50s, all Railroad (ex Lima) diesel models, a couple of Southern 4-4-0 types, anything still produced with a tender drive.

 

3 None on Bach, Dapol or Heljan that I am aware of.

[Trainmaster64]

34theletterbetweenB&D is exactly correct; Traction tires are rubber tires that are fitted to the wheels of a locomotive to improve traction. They came about many years ago as a means of allowing the locomotives to pull heavier trains without replacing the bodies with metal ones - the heavier the locomotive, the more it can pull because of more weight and adhesion to the rails. These have been made obsolete on a lot of current models, mainly due to the key issues with traction tires:

 

-if they are coated in oil, like the PL-40 lubricant, they lose adhesion and are unable to grip the rails properly anymore

-they can wear down and need replacing over time and use

-as the rubber coating does not conduct electricity, the locomotive is unable to use those wheels for electrical pickup and its conductivity is lessened

 

On bigger engines like the Tender-Drive engines, this is not a huge issue, particularly if it is a Pacific or a large engine like it. However, smaller engines with traction tires will struggle over pointwork because of the loss of pickup area. These days not many locomotives are produced with them. If you post exactly which engines you have, from what company and in what livery, it should be easy for the forum members to help you identify which engines have traction tires. Also recommended is to check the forum threads for locomotives you are interested in acquiring - if they have traction tires fitted it should have been mentioned in the thread, if not somewhere else online.

 

Hope this helps!

[southernelectric]

1 Rubber tyres on the driven wheels.

 

2 Relatively little seen in the last dozen year's new OO productions. Hornby's early class 50s, all Railroad (ex Lima) diesel models, a couple of Southern 4-4-0 types, anything still produced with a tender drive.

 

3 None on Bach, Dapol or Heljan that I am aware of.

 

Thank you for the explanation, now I know what traction tyres are! Seems that my Hornby locos don't have them after all...

[southernelectric]

34theletterbetweenB&D is exactly correct; Traction tires are rubber tires that are fitted to the wheels of a locomotive to improve traction. They came about many years ago as a means of allowing the locomotives to pull heavier trains without replacing the bodies with metal ones - the heavier the locomotive, the more it can pull because of more weight and adhesion to the rails. These have been made obsolete on a lot of current models, mainly due to the key issues with traction tires:

 

-if they are coated in oil, like the PL-40 lubricant, they lose adhesion and are unable to grip the rails properly anymore

-they can wear down and need replacing over time and use

-as the rubber coating does not conduct electricity, the locomotive is unable to use those wheels for electrical pickup and its conductivity is lessened

 

On bigger engines like the Tender-Drive engines, this is not a huge issue, particularly if it is a Pacific or a large engine like it. However, smaller engines with traction tires will struggle over pointwork because of the loss of pickup area. These days not many locomotives are produced with them. If you post exactly which engines you have, from what company and in what livery, it should be easy for the forum members to help you identify which engines have traction tires. Also recommended is to check the forum threads for locomotives you are interested in acquiring - if they have traction tires fitted it should have been mentioned in the thread, if not somewhere else online.

 

Hope this helps!

 

That is hugely helpful thank you! The models I own are all recent models from Hornby, all super-detailed steam locos. The Peco PL-40 doesn't have lubricant though, or does it? Looking at it, just a brush and a scraper that is connected to your transformer with the attached wires.

 

I'm not planning to buy older Hornby models of any kind, or any of the Railroad stuff, so I guess I'm probably not going to encounter these types of tyres.

 

In terms of what I have at the moment, the following Hornby steam locos:

• R1073 Clan Line (from the VSOE Digital Train Set), made from 2007 onwards, mine dates from 2009 
• R2339 Mallard Super-Detailed Model - bought in 2012, has the new style tender connection which I believe dates from 2011 onwards
• R3081 Flying Scotsman NRM 2011? Acquired in 2012

It seems I am traction tyre free with this little collection.

 

Thanks for the info, greatly appreciated.

[Trainmaster64]

You're welcome; my mistake on the lubricant. Of course the PL-40 is the wheel cleaning unit; obviously using with traction tired locomotives would result in your tires being shredded off!

 

Your collection has no traction tires at this point; just something to be aware of. If you ever do encounter worn traction tires, don't forget about Bullfrog Snot - a product that replaces them and works very well if applied correctly!

[melmerby]

In the broader scope of this topic, Hornby seemed to lapse the use of traction tyres some years ago, only to re-introduce them with the (then) new T9 4-4-0 in its various Southern liveries.

 

Having waited seemingly a long time for a quality r-t-r T9, only to discover that they had traction tyres, I though that I would be fully entitled to a sense-of-humour failure. But as yet they have not been a problem. I use Peco Insulfrog points at home and at the Club, with DCC (ZTC and Elite), and all is still well on some five locos that get regular light use.

 

So reliable in fact, that I would not hesitate to buy a new R3108 should it appear before the next Ice Age.

 

PB

They pick up on all the other wheels though, so no serious lack of conductivity.

I suppose with only two driven axles and a fairly light body Hornby decided they needed a little extra grip!

 

Keith

[Alan Higgi]

Haven't the latest 4f and 2p from Hornby got traction tyres? I must admit this is why I have not got one of each.

[southernelectric]

Haven't the latest 4f and 2p from Hornby got traction tyres? I must admit this is why I have not got one of each.

 

And after learning what I've learned on here about traction tyres, I decided not to buy a Hornby 4-VEP in BR Blue at a knockdown price (under £90). That, and other factors...