How many miles?

[MR SPOCK]

[align=center]Today I had noticed that an item of stock would not follow the rest of the train, everytime it came to a turnout it did what it wanted and derailed,

on further investigation I found it had grooves where the wheel tread should be,

I just got this and had not changed out the wheels for metal ones,

how many miles has it took to do this amount of wear?,

I looked at the axle boxes and they seem fine no sign of going oval, so maybe the wheelsets are from a previous life,
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[Dylanlewis2000]

I remember in Aberystwyth there was a model shop on the corner by a fish and chip shop and he had a stainz loco going back and foth on a 4 meter strip of track from the time the shop opened to the time it closed. It covered thousands of miles and the guy used to update the mileage on it regurarly.

The thing is with plastic wheels this could have been caused if the rail was very warm in the summer it could have melted a bit and caused that warp, or it could have had miles upon miles of running.

 

[Neil Robinson]

I bought an ex demonstration wagon from Beaties many years ago. It had run continuously round an R1 circle of track during shop opening hours and had wheels like that. As your example the journals seemed fine, so I think yours has also run on tight curves.

 

[MR SPOCK]

I remember in Aberystwyth there was a model shop on the corner by a fish and chip shop and he had a stainz loco going back and foth on a 4 meter strip of track from the time the shop opened to the time it closed. It covered thousands of miles and the guy used to update the mileage on it regurarly.

The thing is with plastic wheels this could have been caused if the rail was very warm in the summer it could have melted a bit and caused that warp, or it could have had miles upon miles of running.

[align=center]Interesting about the heat as the car came from USA so could have had some extremes in temp applied, I have found a few more like this tonight, but I am not concerned as I will be changing to metal wheels, just never seen this amount of wear before

Pete
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[g-bits]

Depends on both the brand of wheels and the batch/plastic/factory and the weight of the vehicle - As a minimum I'd say many hundreds of miles, and more likely thousands. I've run prototype vehicles (weight approx 1kg over 4 axles) for 2000 miles round R1 reverse curves and the wear was little more than a matt band round the tyre where it touched the rail.

That said, many injection moulded plastics seem to form a harder surface layer, and so once that's been cut through, wear is often faster, particularly if the damaged wheelset has a tendency to lock. I remember a couple of decades ago the long defunct Beatties shop in Newcastle had an LGB Harz 2-6-2T and some wagons trailing back and forth on a straight line hung off the ceiling. When the shop closed, and the train was brought down after however many years, the plastic wheels on the wagons were so worn that the flanges pretty much fell off.

Jonathan
RDE

 

[dutchelm]

I had a couple of wagons with wheels just like that. They were on a pair of wagons, bought on ebay, that had been in a shop display. I tried them before fitting metal wheels. They ran OK until they reached a point.

 

[MR SPOCK]

Depends on both the brand of wheels and the batch/plastic/factory and the weight of the vehicle - As a minimum I'd say many hundreds of miles, and more likely thousands. I've run prototype vehicles (weight approx 1kg over 4 axles) for 2000 miles round R1 reverse curves and the wear was little more than a matt band round the tyre where it touched the rail.

That said, many injection moulded plastics seem to form a harder surface layer, and so once that's been cut through, wear is often faster, particularly if the damaged wheelset has a tendency to lock. I remember a couple of decades ago the long defunct Beatties shop in Newcastle had an LGB Harz 2-6-2T and some wagons trailing back and forth on a straight line hung off the ceiling. When the shop closed, and the train was brought down after however many years, the plastic wheels on the wagons were so worn that the flanges pretty much fell off.

Jonathan
RDE

[align=center]I remember that shop in Newcastle haha, was it that many decades ago, I also remember an annoying green loco grinding away endlessly, must be the same one,that must have done thousands of miles, I am impressed now but I must say I wasnt then, the model is an Aristo and the grooves are so deep the flanges bounces off the sleepers,

Cheers Pete
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[bobg]

I've seen tyres like that on a full size loco I was helping rebuild! :bleh::bleh:

 

[MR SPOCK]

I've seen tyres like that on a full size loco I was helping rebuild! :bleh::bleh:

[align=center]Did it go straight on at the corners as well, ?
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[stockers]

I've seen tyres like that on a full size loco I was helping rebuild! :bleh::bleh:

So have I - a little Pecket named Marcia on tyhe K&ESR

 

[trammayo]

I've seen tyres like that on a full size loco I was helping rebuild! :bleh::bleh:

So have I - a little Pecket named Marcia on tyhe K&ESR

Yep. Bin there misen at Shipley Glen - had to make a simple lathe to turn down the flanges and re-profile the treads!

Mick

 

[MR SPOCK]

On the other side of the coin, a loco i helped to restore was prone to derailing in its working life due to wheel tread wear making the flanges too deep,
and hitting rail chairs and point frogs as a result..
They solved the problem by reducing the depth of the flange with oxyacetylene, very roughly, so it was deeper in some places and virtuall none in others,
didn't cure the derailment problem.

Had to do a total re tread on a lathe to sort it.

Sounds like a prototype for everything that happens
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[bobg]

I've seen tyres like that on a full size loco I was helping rebuild! :bleh::bleh:

[align=center]Did it go straight on at the corners as well, ?
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I'm afraid it had a few more problems than just that, like a cracked frame, broken axle box, shot at suspension etc. etc. etc. It was an ex-Coal Board loco called Welshman. Still in bits as far as I know.

 

[New Haven Neil]

Depends on both the brand of wheels and the batch/plastic/factory and the weight of the vehicle - As a minimum I'd say many hundreds of miles, and more likely thousands. I've run prototype vehicles (weight approx 1kg over 4 axles) for 2000 miles round R1 reverse curves and the wear was little more than a matt band round the tyre where it touched the rail.

That said, many injection moulded plastics seem to form a harder surface layer, and so once that's been cut through, wear is often faster, particularly if the damaged wheelset has a tendency to lock. I remember a couple of decades ago the long defunct Beatties shop in Newcastle had an LGB Harz 2-6-2T and some wagons trailing back and forth on a straight line hung off the ceiling. When the shop closed, and the train was brought down after however many years, the plastic wheels on the wagons were so worn that the flanges pretty much fell off.

Jonathan
RDE

Jonathan, are you sure it was a Harz? I bought a Spremberger from there from the same duty about 1984! Still have it, runs fine if a little noisier than my other LGB (yes, I do have some as well as the steamies!).

Neil

 

[g-bits]

Jonathan, are you sure it was a Harz? I bought a Spremberger from there from the same duty about 1984! Still have it, runs fine if a little noisier than my other LGB (yes, I do have some as well as the steamies!).

Neil

I have to admit that my main memory is of a general sense of green-ness bigger than a Stainz, and viewed either from a distance, or at an uncomfortable angle. If it replaced your maghine about 1984, I think that's too early for a 2-6-2T, maybe it was a spreewald or a U. I think the shop hung on till 91 or even 92, so it put in a few years of service

Jonathan
RDE

 

[Neil Robinson]

If it replaced your maghine about 1984, I think that's too early for a 2-6-2T, maybe it was a spreewald or a U.

Jonathan
RDE

With respect the 2-6-2T was available then, I bought mine from Beatties in Nottingham in 1977. The U class had been around since 1971 however the Spreewald wasn't introduced for a few years after the 2-6-2T but may have been around by 1984.

 

[Neil Robinson]

 

[New Haven Neil]

Yeah, I had a Harz before the Spremberger! It ran on the continuous circuit that was above most of the shop, for months and months! Having put brain in gear, it must have been the 83/84 winter, I bought it in the spring after the track was shortened to an end to end.

Memories!

 

[MR SPOCK]

Yeah, I had a Harz before the Spremberger! It ran on the continuous circuit that was above most of the shop, for months and months! Having put brain in gear, it must have been the 83/84 winter, I bought it in the spring after the track was shortened to an end to end.

Memories!

[align=center]How many miles did it do in Newcastle do you reckon, has anyone been tempted to work it out, real miles that is not scale miles as that would be almost to where the sun shines from,
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[g-bits]

Yeah, I had a Harz before the Spremberger! It ran on the continuous circuit that was above most of the shop, for months and months! Having put brain in gear, it must have been the 83/84 winter, I bought it in the spring after the track was shortened to an end to end.

Memories!

[align=center]How many miles did it do in Newcastle do you reckon, has anyone been tempted to work it out, real miles that is not scale miles as that would be almost to where the sun shines from,
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You'd be amazed how the mileage racks up - my test rigs do between 125 and 250 miles a week depending on the speed I set, but that's 24/7. I remember the Beatties train being pretty sedate, plus it was shuttling back and forth, and I guess it was only running when the shop was open. Say 50 miles a week, which is near enough 2500 a year, and about fifteen thousand total if it stayed up there for six years. Should be nicely run in by now.

Jonathan
RDE