Traction tyres

[Big Frank]

Anyone know how or had experience of changing traction tyres on both Kato and Tomix electric (N gauge) or where to find the relevant information in English.

[cteno4]

@Big Frank What models do you want to work on? You can try putting the train name and model number along with traction tire into google translate and paste the kanji into google search and this may dig up a page or video on it and then use google translate to move to english.

 

For most EMUs, DMUs, and locos it’s just a matter of popping out the truck then disassembling the truck down to the wheelsets and popping on a new traction tire. You might try the above search with disassembly as there are a number of videos out there of how to tear down many trains. Finding the specific one may be hard, but if you can find a similar car from the same manufacturer a lot of the basics of how the trucks go in and out and come apart are the same. Once you have torn a few apart its pretty easy to figure out others.

 

jeff

[Big Frank]

Cheers Jeff I give it ago, I've got a range of Tomix and Kato EMU's and DMU's plus Steam loco's plus a Bullet. I can strip them down to the boogies but haven't managed to get the wheels out yet. That part looks fiddly and I'm a bit heavy handed. Even my OO gauge trains worry me when I'm working on them. Here's hoping.

[SwallowAngel]

Well, before you do any traction tire swap you should first ask yourself if you even need to change them at all. Unless they feel like literal plastic or are disintigrating or are turning into some goopy rubbery mess (or are missing 😛) you shouldn't need to change them. If you're having problems with traction/haulage power you should much rather consider other problem points such as dirty/slippery track or tires, non-free-rolling coaches/trucks, steep inclines and if your loco is even capable of hauling the loads you're assigning it to. From what I can estimate a typical traction tire (for japanese models atleast) lasts pretty long, somewhere in the realm of 20-30 years if not longer given proper care.

 

Assuming you need to change one, a part number is usually provided with the instructions from which you can move on to google or your supplier of choice.

Information on parts in English is usually pretty scarce. Putting aside this forum, information is basically non-existant, so translation tools are your best friend if you need further details.

 

As for the actual disassembly, it is usually rather easy given some careful handling:

 

Bogies are usually clipped into the loco, so prying them out with a plastic spudger is usually enough. From there you can usually remove the covers on the top and bottom by undoing even more clips exposing the drive train gears and wheels. The axles can then be popped out and your traction tire replaced. Unfortunately I can't provide more detail without pictures or specific model, but that's roughly how it goes usually.

 

Steam locos are not neccesarily harder, but definitely a lot more finnicky.

You usually start off with removing the baseplate exposing the axles and gears. From there you can gently lift out the traction tired axle. The next step is usually the most nerve racking one, as you need to remove the coupling rod from the axle, usually by prying it gently away. This should pop off the crank pin, which are simply friction fit into the models (be sure to keep those safe and not lose them 😅). From there you can remove the tire and replace it.

Reassembling the model is a tad harder: Start by first attaching the coupling rod back on to the axle with the crank pin. Make sure the pin is all the way pressed in, otherwise you risk it flying off during running. The models are designed to have those pressed all the way in so you need not account for extra tolerances or whatever. Then just put the axle back in it's place making sure to align the wheels correctly and go backwards from there.

 

Hope this helps!

[cteno4]

Yes i neglected to ask why new traction tires. Like swallowangel says they usually last a very long time. I have a few hundred trains and only had a handful go bad on me. I did know someone who used a cleaner solvent [some sort of orange oil that also had an aggressive organic solvent mixed it] on his track and that ended up eventually gumming up a bunch of his traction tires.

 

what are wrong with your current ones?

 

get the google translate app on your phone if you do run across any pictures online or literature in japanese as it does a decent job translating diagrams.

 

The bogies are fiddly bits, but with some care they come apart pretty easily. Its mainly just getting some experience with them and going slow and having patience. If they are not working anyway might as well take a stab at making them work and learning how to get into them at the same time. Pick your least favorite train to start with! Having to do a repair now and then is part of the hobby, but luckily with japanese trains its not a common thing to have to do.

 

It’s best to take pictures or a video at every step of the way to document how things go back together. If you can just pull out the wheel set you need to work on and leave as much intact as possible for reassembly

 

get a piece of heavy black or white cloth to work on. Velour is good from scrap bin at the fabric store] having this under your work area helps small parts from rolling away or bouncing if a part pops out on you. 

 

A little set of spudger tools [funny name for a bunch of of little prying instruments usually used on cell phone and electronics repair] is your friend in popping off shells and opening up stuff in a motor car mech. You can find them on ebay, amazon, aliexpress, etc. a set of small flat head screwdrivers is handy. Set of small flat jeweler’s screwdrivers is hand as these usually have very sharp points and are a good way to start prying something that is tight but they are not great at prying past getting something opened up, thats usually best to slide in a larger, flatter tool. I have a pile of different ones and im always finding i use different combos all the time depending on what im working on. Im always finding one tool is perfect for a paticular job, doing it cleanly and with the least likelihood of any damage.

 

jeff

[Big Frank]

Cheers to Jeff and cteno4. Sounds like I've found some excellent advice. Some of my trains are 2nd hand so I have no Idea how they were used before. My track layout is 244cm x 90cm with only a small incline/decline(over a river)using twice the length recommended for incline/decline. A couple of the traction tyres  on the 2nd hand ones have stretched and wrapped themselves around the boogie sides. One snapped while pulling the track cleaner. I got the traction tyres from Gaugemaster and now feel more comfortable about tackling the replacement's. So a big thank you, I'll be tackling the job at the weekend 

[cteno4]

Ok sounds like old traction tires that just gave up the ghost! While isopropanol is pretty benign, it too can make them loose their stretchiness with time and repeated soakings if cleaned a lot with iso.

 

try your train part numbers in youtube and maybe you can find some luck on some videos.

 

cheers

 

jeff