Adriatic posted:There may be an issue with one traction tire. More specifically to powered trucks more than steam.
A single traction tire could cause a steering bias. Normally no big deal as the rails keep you straight. But in turnouts, that isn't always the case.
I ran into this with some Marx turnouts and a truck that veered right and would force points open, but mostly simply climb guides and rails in an attempt to turn. 1 steamers pilot truck did it too.
I simply pulled those out, but thought the experience might be of interest, especially if a loco happens to be picking at points on one side or another after going to one tire.
Good point, hadn't thought of that. I suppose that would always be a possibility. But if a steamer's pilot truck did it too, I would suspect either out-of-gauge wheel sets, or a possible problem with the turnouts.