John23 posted:The worst roller wear is mostly caused by arcing from dirty track. I've replace a lot of rollers that were only run on tubular track. Lionel did make them out of a softer metal for a while which worsened the problem. Even with clean track there will still be wear if you run a lot. Fortunately most rollers are easy to replace.
Arcing caused by dirty track may be one reason for roller wear, but it doesn't negate the fact Super O does cause additional wear. I don't know what kind of metal was used to make the rollers on my engine, but perhaps it was that softer metal you mention. I do know the wear has been minimal since my dad took apart his Super O layout, and we switched to using Lionel's O27, O, FasTrack, and later K-Line's SuperSnap and Super K track. I'm surprised you've had to "replace a lot of rollers". I've never replaced any---not even the grooved ones.
