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Track Traction
Bob asks:
“I have a very old Santa FE stream liner with 8 passenger cars. It’s in beautiful condition but it will not move. The wheels just spin. I have oiled the axles, and cleaned the wheel on the engine. the cars are heavy but they were made that way. I have even tried rosin on the track. Anyone have any ideas?”
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6 Responses to Track Traction
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If the drive wheels spin the problem is likely either not enough traction or some other wheels are not rolling freely. Does the locomotive move if there are no cars attached? I would check that all of the wheels are free to turn, including those on the leading and trailing pilots and on the tender. Maybe one or more are adding too much drag.
For a test, you might put a thin rubber band on the surface of one of the drive wheels on each side. This will add traction but will adversely affect the way the loco sits on the track…but it’s only a test. If it doesn’t have them, you might look into replacing one pair of drivers with traction wheels.
It may be due to missing traction tyres which many older locomotives used. You can usual obtain these from good model suppliers on line, EBay also. Check what size the wheels are.
Good luck
It’s not easy to find traction tires to fit most wheels. I’v used a compound called Bullfrog Snot and carefully applied it until it is equal with the smaller diamter on the wheel.
the rubber tires are most likely missing you can get replacements from most of the manufactures i have had to replace some on my trains
Thanks, I have the same problem with the same engine.
Frog Snot makes traction tires on your loco