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 Posted - October 02 2006 : 01:34:38 AM
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So the other night I was needing to service my Chessie SD, I was presented with a quandary: Traction Tires; file under "shot, lack of".
Then I remembered trying to extract the tiny little rubberbands that my wife fixes our 2-yr-old daughter's hair with, out of her hair.... bzzzzzt Lightbulb time! 
I commandeered the hair-accessory bin and asked my wife where they were. She fished me about a dozen. They looked promising. "Where did you get these?" asked I. "At WalMart for like a dollar" replied she. Hmmm.
What she gave me were tiny TINY little rubber bands, small and narrow, CLEAR, and pliable. And would you believe: they fit PERFECTLY. Absolute factory except for being clear, which isn't a problem if you ask me. And they work GREAT!
So what is this infinite motherload?
Top section of this multipack. Walmart, $3.97 (OK, so more than a dollar because the little size is only available in the multipack). There must be like 150 in there - more than enough to keep even the crankiest of powertorques running for quite a while... and cheaper and more readily available than the Stewart pack.
Edited by - GoingInCirclez on October 02 2006 11:31:53 PM
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 Posted - October 03 2006 : 10:08:14 AM
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What's also nice about those is they are neoprene and don't rot like most rubber bands. I am using the larger ones for drive belts in the old Athearn Hi-F units.
Ray
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Posted - October 03 2006 : 5:24:45 PM
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Ray:
the hairbands look like an easily obtainable alternative. Thanks.
For the really tiny traction bands in Lone Star treble-o I've been using the tiny bands sold by dentists for dental appliances: bridges, TMJs and so on. They're very small, very strong, very reliable.
Magnolia Academy
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Posted - October 05 2006 : 11:55:06 AM
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Mag,
I have used the dental bands for a short time and found out they don't
hold up very long.
Once oil and dirt come in contact with them they start to disintigrate.
They get gummy and it's diificult to remove the residue completely.
Carl T. Man of many scales.
President of the Cape James Terminal RR.
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Posted - October 05 2006 : 12:01:32 PM
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Carl:
Thanks for the head's up on the dental rubbers. I guess I run my treble-o so irregularly and of such brief duration I haven't had a degredation problem. The requirements of the treble-o's are such that I might be forced to retain them but I'll not be using them on HO based on your recommendation.
Thanks,
Magnolia Academy
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Posted - December 17 2006 : 5:01:42 PM
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| They work well, GIC. I just put them on my ICG Alco 630 and it runs great. Thanks for the tip.
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Posted - January 28 2007 : 8:25:12 PM
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| Hey folks, what/how did ya'll remove the residual traction band...Thanks.
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 Posted - February 26 2007 : 11:58:52 PM
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Hi GIC,
I have a couple of questions about the tires from Wal-Mart. I picked up a pack and put them on some of the Bachmann and Lifelike engines I have.
1. I noticed when I put the tires on that one side of the tire would stretch and be thinner causing a thumping sound as the engine went along. Should I stretch it out all the way around first? Did you have this problem?
2. The tires seem kind of oily. Did you wash yours first? I ask because I have a Lifelike engine that slips alot even with the new tires.
Thanks
Mike
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Posted - February 28 2007 : 12:30:05 PM
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Hi Mike,
I haven't noticed them to seem oily. Maybe they are and I just didn't notice? They surely don't seem to slip once they are on.
As for the stretching - I have seen this happen; some are worse than others in the same batch. What I do is roll them down a tapered dowel (a sharpened fat pencil) to stretch them evenly. What's funny is that this doesn't seem to happen all the time... and never did until after I posted this topic. But there's enough in there that I don't mind grabbing another one.
Fish - A jeweler's / precision screwdriver makes a most excellent chisel for scraping the old tires out.
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Posted - March 01 2007 : 12:45:02 AM
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Hi GIC,
Thanks, I will try your ideas.
Mike
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