I believe Dave is correct. I also understand that the taper on the wheel tread was supposed to aid in tracking on tubular track, in particular. The taper riding on the rounded railhead tends to keep the car 'centered', keep the flange away from the rail, thereby reducing friction.....????? Of course, maybe this was just all so much hypothesis-without-data thrown about as we sat around the potbellied stove at the store.....never saw an 'official' write-up, sales spiel, etc..
Nowadays....and in particular on O3R rail profiles such as by Gargraves, Ross, Atlas, and, yes, even FasTrack...I'm not sure that tread configuration is worth squat in terms of improved performance. Seems that most folks (on this forum, anyway) prefer a wheel design with minimal flange, overall profile closer to scale (see NMRA 2-rail wheel profile standards, for instance.), etc., etc., blah, blah.
Hmmmmm...... Never gave it much thought 'til now..... Lionel really likes the 4-letter word "Fast"..... FasTrack, Fast Angle Wheels,.....Fast Production Delivery, Fast Service/Repairs/Parts, .......!!.....(sorry, got carried away.
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Too early.....need more Joe....
BTW, there are no dumb questions on this forum. Only dumb opinions about questions.
