traction tire for steam loco?

[Green_Elite_Cab]

http://bullfrogsnot.com/

price about $25 for a small jar. But you shouldn't need much unless you're redoing a club layout.
I don't know if you need a groove in the wheel or can just put it on the tire.

It creates a thin film on regular wheels if applied correctly. Essentially, I use a small flat screw driver with a small blob on the end, and run the locomotive upside down. I then spread the bullfrog snot on the wheel until it is consistently covering the wheel surface. You are then supposed to allow the wheel to spin for approximately 15 minutes, which smooths out the bull frog snot as it hardens. You loose some electrical contact on that wheel, but its never been a problem for me.

In particular, I use the bullfrog snot on my small AEM7 electrics. The prototype can haul 9 car trains solo, but the model was only able to approach about 5 or 6 passenger cars on straight, level track. unmodified. The bullfrog snot and some additional weight allowed me to pull prototype length trains up a 4% grade on our club. Bullfrog snot will definitely eliminate wheel slip. its easy to remove if you don't like it.

You'll never run out of your jar, and for as long as I've had my jar of it, it hasn't gotten hard or weird in the jar, so it doesn't seem like it will go bad either.

I say find a friend who has some or bite the bullet and pick it up. Its the only useful product of its type, so you're kind of stuck with it.