Silicone Alternative to Traction Tires - Long Term Experince

As a replacement for traction tires, my experience is that it it does okay if applied well, and by that I mean both you entirely fill the slot or depression made for the traction tire and make it thick and nice and smooth.  I apply it with the loco upside down, slowly turning its wheels, while I dab a big glop on and quickly smooth it out.  It does wear down/come off faster than the original tires wore out, but its easy to remove the traces and re-do.  

I have not had good results with it when used on non-traction tires, as when you want to add traction to a loco that is slipping.  Apparently it does not do well in really thin layers.  For this, I use Bullfrogsnot, or, much the same thing, the plastic sold at hardware stores, lumberyards, etc., that is mean for dipping/coating tool handles (as on pliers, etc.).  Again, the the loco upside down and turning its wheels slowly, I brush this "rubber paint" on and let in thoroughly dry.  It does wonders in some cases adding traction, although it noticeably cuts electric connectivity: add a traction tire to an 0-4-0 and you end up with a loco that pulls better but stutters for connectivity. 

EDIT: One thing I do first on locos that throw/tear a traction tire, is remove it and see if it needs traction tires.  My Vision CC2 had bad ones and I removed them all.  It pulls  just as well as far as I am concerned - certainly good enough for my needs, without them. 

For small locomotives with traction tires, I run a tether to take power from the tender, does wonders for the reliability going over switches and the like.

It is probably the best payback of any "bashing" project for a small loco.  It often takes less than  an hour to rig a tether, unless the tender has no center pickups in which case it might take two or three.  But it does wonders for the smoothness of the loco, AND it allows you to now lower the connectivity of \the locos drivers by coating one more it with plastic or whatever to add additional traction, if you need to, and still have a smooth-running loco.  

Thanks Lee for your feedback. From your response I get the sense that the silicone sealant is not as durable as an OEM traction tire.

Judging by the low response to this post, I guess there are not too many others using sealant as a traction tire replacement.

I have a stash of spare traction tires that is dwindling, so I will use the silicone sealant technique as a temporary fix until I can replenish my stash.

Has anyone tried baloney slicing heat shrink tubing as a substitute for OEM traction tires?

The heatshrink is an interesting idea, I had truthfully never thought of that.  It won't be as "grippy" as the rubber tires, but it should have pretty good life.

I have not tried silicone to replace traction tires but just wanted to point out there are probably hundreds of choices out there. I have some experience with Dow Corning products, both now replaced with newer products. One was self leveling and the other had to be formed. The self leveling product would do just that so if you used it for a traction tire the wheels would have rotate constantly until set which would typically take a couple of hours. You would end up with a tough and very smooth surface which felt like it had plenty of grip. I used them to pot electronics so best place to find similar products might be here.

This item best fits the description of the material I have used.

Pete

Other thing to keep in mind is that some heat shrink tubing has an adhesive in it that also activates when it's heated.  I'm not sure how easy it would be to remove and clean later.

IMHO, stick to the traction tires.  If you run out, order more and don't run the tireless locomotive until it's retread.

I've never seen any heatshrink that isn't pretty easily removed, I don't think cleaning the wheel would be a major issue.  I'm just not sure how well it would work for a traction tire.

I have used the silicone method with excellent results. The key is more than one application, use thin layers, and let the stuff cure sufficiently. In my case, winter, this took about ten days. My MTH Railking Hudson has had the silicone on since 2011. It pulls about 10 Lionel Aluminum passenger cars with zero problems. The loop is not level and the silicone is still fine. However, I do not run this frequently. My DCS is not setup on this loop so I do not know how many hours of run time I have on the silicone. If the traction tire is a PITA, try the silicone. Just be patient. I was not the first time and it did not last.

Good Luck,

Bob

FWIW I tried Bullfrog Snot for the first time on a couple of pre magnetraction Post War engines and was very impressed with the results. Applying it to only the rear pair of drivers pretty much eliminated wheel slip pulling 10 post war cars.

Pete