@MissingME&WV posted:I can't imagine I'm the only one, but when my 89 derailed due to the tire issue, at speed step 11 as note, it actually took a few chunks out of the pilot wheels and severely chewed up the flange on the #1 driver set, with the traction tires. To the point where I do feel replacement wheels are now in order, as the flange is thin enough and warped enough at points where that alone may well pick switches. I've never seen any other engine from Lionel or MTH do that, and after something like 18 years of collecting O scale, it's not like this is the first time an engine has derailed in my collection. It honestly made me wonder if there are wheels off another engine I might be able to swap out with these, because to keep these new moguls running long term I think I would need to keep many, many spare wheel sets on hand.
Unless your loco dropped to the floor, I can't believe that a derailment at normal speed took "chunks out of the wheels" or bent the flanges. There's a photo on the first page of this thread that shows discoloration on the back of a wheel from arcing, which can happen if there's a short circuit and your breaker protection isn't quick to act. Perhaps that's what you're seeing.
I think the front and rear driving wheelsets on these Moguls might be the same, except that the rear set doesn't have the groove for a tire. So... Has anyone tried ordering a new REAR wheelset, and installing it in place of the front? If the MTH tire is undersized and not making full contact with the rails, running a full-diameter metal wheelset up front might give equal or better traction than the MTH tire, while still preserving enough flange depth to avoid derailments. Doing this would also eliminate tire replacements in the future.
I'm not a fan of rubber tires, and unlike most of you I could probably live without the smoke feature. If I owned one of these, I would definitely try smooth steel wheels front and rear. If I still needed more pulling power, my next move would be to remove the smoke unit (horrors!) and fill that area of the smokebox with as many tungsten weights as I could afford. But that's just me!
