Lionel USRA 0-8-0 Traction Tire Repair

Hello again, this is Mike with Toy Train Tips and Tricks, and today we're taking a look at this Lionel Modern Era 08-0, a USRA 08-0, a slightly less than scale model. It is scale proportioned, but it is scaled out to approximately 1 50th scale, a little bit smaller than true 0. But this is a starter set locomotive, so it looks good with the more traditional size Lionel cars, but it also is close enough to scale you can get by using regular 1 48th stuff as well. And this is a good running little locomotive. They started making these in 2008. There are many different versions, different road names, and with different options. Some have a more simplified side rod arrangement. Some have a dummy coupler instead of an operating coupler like this one. Some are with the new Lion Chief system for command. This is a conventional mode, and there's some differences between different models and sound system and such since 2008. But the motor, the drive, the gearing, all of that is the same in all of them. And again, it's a good running little locomotive, and it will navigate 027 curves and switches. With the operating coupler at the front and the back, this is a great little switcher. But the one problem that happens with this, my pet peeve, is that this thing goes through traction tires like crazy. I replace about two a year. So since it's time to replace this one again, we're going to make a little video on how to do that. So step one of this process is in order to get to the traction tire that's on this back driver, we're going to have to take this screw out and disconnect this side rod so we can swing the old traction tire out and the new one in. So I have here a 3 16th inch socket, put that on the end of my driver, and that's going to take my nut right off. Didn't mean to drop it, but it works. Remove the hex screw, set it aside, pull the old mangled traction tire off, and yeah, this one is shot. So time for a replacement. And so while I'm showing you how this works with the 080, this works with other Lionel steamers as well. Although I haven't had as much trouble with the 242s, the 442s, the other starter set locomotives losing traction tires. They seem to last forever, whereas this one goes through pretty quickly. I buy these in pairs because it goes through them so quickly. So you see the tread there. This one's nice and flexible. And so now the fun part begins. We are going to slide this under the side rod, slide it under the side rod. And now this is where three hands come in, but you can do it with two, but it can be frustrating. I'm going to get two very small flathead screwdrivers. And let's see how quickly I can do this. Sometimes I can do it faster than others. Ta-da! Now make sure as you put this on here that it is not twisted in any way, because if it is, then you're going to have to start all over again. Okay, it's on there. That didn't take too long. And so now we are going to replace our hex screw, hand tighten, and there we go. One new traction tire to replace one nasty old, I feel like dry rod. It's very hard. I didn't see the wear on it. It was about to tear, but it's all dried out and not very flexible at all. As I mentioned, this is a model of a USRA 080. The USRA was the United States Railway Administration. During World War I, America's railroads were nationalized under the USRA. And from November of 1917 through March of 1920, America's railroads were actually under the direct control of the federal government in an effort to make rail transport more efficient for the war effort. One of the things that the USRA did was create some standardized locomotive designs. And these were called the USRA designs and the 080 was one of these. And during that period of 1917 to 1920, about 175 actual USRA 080s were delivered to a dozen or so railroads. But the design actually was quite efficient. And after the war, another 1,200 or so copies were made by other railroads. And so these were quite ubiquitous from 1917 all the way up to the end of the steam era in the 1950s. Today, there is at least one surviving example. That is located at the Kentucky Railway Museum. Ah! So there we have it. Lionel's model of a USRA 080 for a starter set engine. These are very nice. Again, some have fewer features than this one with simplified valve gear and dummy couplers. Some have more features including the Lion Chief control system. So you get the whistle. Some have air whistles. Some have this electronic whistle. You get smoke. It's not the most prolific smoker unless you're running it wide open and a nice little LED headlight. Price-wise, there's a wide variety based on the number of features a particular locomotive has. You can generally find these anywhere between $100 and $200 depending on condition and the number of features that you have. But for a starter set locomotive, very, very nice. You saw that this can run quite slowly. It's a great little switcher. You've got the coupler in the front so you can switch from both directions. It cranks down to low speed or you can wind it up a little bit as well. Don't pass these up if you get the opportunity. Now we know how to change the traction tire. Other than the traction tire, I've had no trouble whatsoever with this locomotive. It's been very, very dependable. It just tends to go through a lot of traction tires. Maybe that's because of the grades that we have, the trestle, or maybe because we do operate more on 027 curves when we're switching. Even though it will operate on 027, that may be putting a little extra stress on the traction tire and causing it to fail quicker. If you have any suggestions on ways to keep the traction tire from failing or keep it on there better, go ahead and put that in the comments. In any case, I hope you like the video. As always, like it, share it, subscribe, ring that bell, tell your friends, tell your neighbors, and until next time, keep those trains running.