Can anyone tell me if the various size traction tires offered by Walthers will fit Rivarossi steam locomotives. I checked with Walthers and they were non-committal, saying the product was for their locos.
LIRRMAN
A traction tire can only be fitted to a steamer if it has a pair of drivers with a grooved tread. If you’ve got that you can measure the diameter of the drivers and find a pair of traction tire elastics to fit into the groove. You should think before you put traction tires on an engine because they eventually wear out and have to be replaced, they sometimes squeeze out under heavy load and sometimes they glaze and loose some of their adhesion. In one instance, I had to fix the tires into the groove with crazy glue to prevent them from squeezing out on a Riverossi Challenger. Next the traction tires put so much strain on the drivers that they spun on their axle so I had to reinforce them with plastic cement. That engine runs fine now but it was a struggle to get there.
Traction tires add to the traction of a loco, but also cause additional grime and dirt on your track. If your locos perform fine without them, I´d suggest to stay away from traction tires. Adding weight to a loco usually does the job as well.
Go to Reynolds.com they have traction tires for Fleischmann and Roco engines. Just measure the dia. of your wheels. I have used them on both American and German engines. They are like rubber bands.
Bob
Try using Bull Frog Snot. Seriously. Google it. I’ve tried it and I got to say it works great.