Wheel cleaning

Hi all,
I have titled this as locomotive traction tyres as I believe that that is what the little rubber tyres do.
I am contemplating purchasing a wheel cleaner - the brass brush type that sits on the rails and powers up the bogies.
I model BR blue and some of my loco's have the tyres and some don't. I have a level track format with no inclines.
My question is this, Are these tyres really necessary and if removed for wheel cleaning, can I leave them off?

 

Gary, clean carefully and don't use any type of lubricant as the tyres don't like it. If you leave them off, then those wheels may not touch the rail and so less contact for power pickup.

Traction Tyres (Page 1) / Model Railways / General Discussions / Forums / Railpage
Traction tyres - pointless?? - New Railway Modellers Forums
Better replacement for traction tires? - the MRH Forum

Hi Gary,

Mine had grooves to hold the tires, I replaced with proper wheels. My Mainline Warship needed a bit more weight over the motor, but the Lima diesel railways run fine. Bonus is that pick-up is now from all wheels.

Do not use a brass brush on them.

Nigel

Just removing the tyres reduces performance - sometimes dramatically
I have had  problems with traction tyres in the past and solved it by either:

1. Replacing the wheels and adding weight to loco or
2. where adding weight to loco is not practical I have removed the rubber tyres and replaced them with this product -Bullfrog Snot.      

Like many "innovations", traction tyres seemed a good idea on paper but, in practice, they were a disaster (IMHO).

They picked up crud and probably created lots of it themselves, they wore out, slipped on the rims when they stretched and, if they needed replacing, were the very devil to get at behind the linkage.

Having let others do the onsite testing, I always avoided them like the plague.

The wire brush cleaners you mentioned do an excellent job but are definitely not for traction tyred locos !!

Hi and thank you for your answers to my questions. To be fair, all my latest loco purchases have been new ones so don't have tyres. It is just the odd few that I have that are equipped with them.
I take on board what was said about their removal. Do any of you know a good source for replacement wheel sets?
Regarding the brass brush cleaners, I assume from Nigel's comment that they would be too abrasive or do they as Petermac states, do a good job. I will stick to the cotton buds and alcohol for the moment until my mind is made up.
Thanks again guys for your responses, they have been very helpful.

Sorry Gary - my comments about the brass brush cleaners might be misleading ……………

Do NOT use these cleaners on traction tyred wheels - A) You won't get an electrical connection due to the tyres themselves and B) If you drive the wheels via the tender (or other) pickups, you'll shred the tyres in less time that it will take to disconnect the supply !!!

They are for metal wheels only and, in my experience, work well on those.  :thumbs  Cotton buds and alcohol is the way to go with the tyres but I suspect, over time, the alcohol will probably damage the rubber …………………. :roll:

Thanks for the update Petermac. I did gather that was the case, hence in my opening question I asked if I could leave them off after cleaning.
I wasn't aware that some wheels had grooves in to accommodate the tyres though. I thought they may have just been a friction fit.
I have been doing a bit of research now and there are various non brass brush options on the market that use sponge type contacts for the wheels to clean them - non tyred only.
As I now have 20 loco's, I was looking at making life that little bit easier for smooth running.