bob2 posted:2-railers weight locomotives so they will slip before the motor stalls.
I agree that heat is what kills motors, and amps is what causes heat. But a stalled motor is at its weakest point. It does not take long at all to burn up a stalled motor.
Traction tires may not allow slip before stall. You can tell - just put your hand in front of the locomotive, turn the power on and observe the slip. No slip? Turn the power off immediately, and never load your model until it stalls.
That's one of the reasons I've had a general dislike of traction tires (and went to scale wheels). Traction tires artificially increase the pulling power of locomotives to the point you can overload them. Even if they're not stalling, you can exceed the comfortable limits of the motor and electronics. USUALLY, the traction tires give way before something gets seriously damaged but I wouldn't rely on that. With scale wheels, if it slips you put on a helper or shorten your train.
