Running a traction tire wheel without the traction tire is counter productive. The tire makes the locomotive seem more powerful because of the characteristics of "rubber" and the fact that a deflected tire has more contact area between tire and rail than an all steel wheel would. Remove the tire and the contact area is reduced exponentially.
I'm sorry to say that I have become virtually MTH-only in recent years simply because I can replace the traction tired wheel and axle sets with all steel (or sintered iron) on their Premier diesels. I did find that my Lionel ALCo S-2 had replaceable wheel and axle sets and Lionel had the parts.
