I recently obtained a Lionel 252. The engine is in need of some repair whicj i mostly have covered. My proble is that the flanges on the drive wheels look like they are rubber. All the replacements i can find are all metal. Am i missing something here?
I’ve never seen a Lionel engine, including any prewar 252s with rubber flanges.
Can you post a picture of the wheels on the engine?
Larry
Maybe accumulated carbon and grease?
I was at an antique show several years back, and one of the exhibitors had a standard gauge something, Lionel, American Flyer, I just don’t know, that had rubber traction tires on the drivers. This was an electric-profile locomotive and it was old! Those rubbber tires were all dried out and cracked.
Maybe this is what the original poster’s asking about?
American Flyer “pul-mor” tires come to mind; but he said that it’s Lionel and that the rubber parts are the flanges, not the treads.