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I borrowed that from a youtube channel I watch.  Refers to wasting time trying to repair or restore old parts.

A few months ago I purchased my first Unique lines ROCK ISLAND AA diesel. First run the traction tires disintegrated.  I asked on the forum how to replace them. I got answers from they didn't have traction tires to you can't. The one answer I received that made sense was that the tires were vulcanized to the wheels before they were assembled. Hence my $200 loco was instantly made useless because it just sits and spins without the traction tires.

Unfortunately I was cleaning and sorting a box of stuff the next day and lo and behold there was a roll of magnetic tape. The idle mind immediately shifted into gear!!! Wow, traction tires and magnetraction all in one. On the first attempt I stuck the trimmed down tape to one wheel, wrapped a piece of wire around it. (I say first attempt, more like 15 or 20) I finally got it all in place and tight so I took a high tech torch (a clicky grill lighter) and heated it to hopefully fully activate the glue. When I took the wire off it 24 hours later it stayed on. Emboldened, I attempted the second wheel. On this one I used super glue. I fastened one end of the tape and let it dry a couple of hours. Then I returned and glued the rest of the tape to the wheel. This is currently setting.

It has currently taken about three hours. I will never get anywhere close to what I paid, so

Waste of Time OlympicsIMG_20210902_215747_9IMG_20210902_215857_1IMG_20210902_215906_8IMG_20210902_222731_8

Stay tuned............

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Waste of time?   Maybe.  But IF you succeed, you will feel like you have a victory in a perhaps otherwise mundane life!  :-)

And, you will probably look back fondly on this train-triumph when you are on your deathbed!  :-)

But seriously, I think this is a great idea and I really look forward to hearing how it works out.

Louis Pasteur, a mere chemist, spent 20 years searching for a cure for rabies, under constant threats from the entire medical profession of indictment for fraud and imprisonment due to his pathological belief in a "fantasy" called "germs."

And then one day, . . . he cured it! 

Mannyrock

You might try contacting Portlines Hobbies, he has traction tires in several sizes. You may find one that will fit, they are approximately .005" thick and I used Goo to attach to the wheels on one of my engines. After mounting them I left the engine set upside down in a cradle for one fay. These went onto the wheels where the vulcanized tired had been.

Ray

You might try the closest size traction tire, cut it once and remove any rubber needed to make a tight circle.  Glue it on with E6000 clear glue and let cure at least 72 hours.  I believe E6000 glue is the only one that may do the job, it really sticks, is tough and has to be cut off with difficulty.

This is how I plan to repair my traction tires when they fail.  I have only a couple newer engines with traction tires and none have failed yet but they will.

Charlie

Last edited by Choo Choo Charlie

Magnetic traction tire update. I finally got all the other trains on the layout put away and ran this.

The tires worked perfectly. I was going to show a video, but like most postwar trains, this thing

cannot cross a switch or an uncoupling track with out reversing. This may be the reason most

postwar manufacturers did not put switches or uncouplers in their sets. This is the one I had for

sale on the forum and epay, but I don't think I can sell it now. How do I describe the update.

Best, John

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