How's the smoke work?

jr switch

Member
On the steam engines, when they are listed for smoke and sounds, how is the smokestack different? I assume it is lined or insulated and deeper. Is there a small coil of material or pellet that can be lit and dropped in? Iv'e seen the "smoke oil" mentioned, how does it work? How hard is it to convert to a smoker and I just realized that when I see steam engines on layouts, I don't see any smoke. Why is that?-------John R
 

Glen Haasdyk

Active Member
There is a smaller heat element in the smokestack that you would add the smoke oil to. as it heats up the oil starts to burn a bit and produces the smoke. There are companys that produce the smoke unit although I've never tried them. Personally I won't have a smoke unit since they don't look like the real think (kinda toy-like) and the residue from the oil tends to settle back down onto the track and senery. That and I'm not supposed to be around smoke due to health reasons.
 

Seaboard

Member
Most smoke units Iv'e heard of take cooking or smoke unit oil. The oil sits in a container with a heating element in it like Glen Haasdyk said and slowly burns away. Sometimes you have to install a blower fan to drive the smoke out. To refill the oil box there should be a screw around the front or on the smoke stack of the engine. There easier to install on a G scale engines. I have one on my G scale Mogul. I know that some HO engines have a place to install a smoke unit. The smoke stacks can be tall or short. the unit is seperate from the stack just incase you need to replace it. If you don't see any smoke the engine then they probably don't have the unit with it.
 

Seaboard

Member
Most smoke units Iv'e heard of take cooking or smoke unit oil. The oil sits in a container with a heating element in it like Glen Haasdyk said and slowly burns away. Sometimes you have to install a blower fan to drive the smoke out. To refill the oil box there should be a screw around the front or on the smoke stack of the engine. There easier to install on a G scale engines. I have one on my G scale Mogul. I know that some HO engines have a place to install a smoke unit. The smoke stacks can be tall or short. the unit is seperate from the stack just incase you need to replace it. If you don't see any smoke the engine then they probably don't have the unit with it.
 

Seaboard

Member
oops
redface2.gif
Sorry bout the second reply, don't know how that happened.
 

jr switch

Member
Glenn---seems like i can remember seeing model trains with the smoke and it does not look protypical at all. If someone came up with a smoke generation system that did look realistic, you are right , it would get all over everything, the layout would be covered with some sort of residue and the wife would make you clean the walls.
Ok, I'm over it. I can live without smoke. I just wondered how it worked---John R
 

Seaboard

Member
green_elite_cab said:
yeah i have a Lionel CHallenger in HO scale, would buying a msoke unit be worth it?

as long as it has the spot to install it sure. I think it would be cool. I had one put on my G Scale Mogul and I think it looks awesome. It uses cooking oil instead of regular smokeoil, And it doesn't seem to effect anything because with that the smoke particles dicipate quicker scince it's lighter than the regular smoke unit oil.
 

green_elite_cab

Keep It Moving!
RR Man said:
as long as it has the spot to install it sure. I think it would be cool. I had one put on my G Scale Mogul and I think it looks awesome. It uses cooking oil instead of regular smokeoil, And it doesn't seem to effect anything because with that the smoke particles dicipate quicker scince it's lighter than the regular smoke unit oil.

it does. the locomtvie came with a plug and mounting area for a specific smoke genreator as outlined ina particular page of the manual, sold seperately:rolleyes:

at that thing's coast i would have payed the extra $20 for the generator to be there already. i guess i'll have to order one next time around.

is smoke just going to lazily lift from the stack, or will it actually shoot out some?
 

Glen Haasdyk

Active Member
Most smoke generators just lazily lift the smoke. I'd imagine that if the smoke actually poured out like the prototype, your room would fill with smoke in a matter of minutes.

it would get all over everything, the layout would be covered with some sort of residue and the wife would make you clean the walls.
I've heard that some people who run smoke for awhile will notice that the locos will start to slip on grades from the oil residue and the have to clean the track more often.
 

green_elite_cab

Keep It Moving!
yeah, i don't plan to run it much. its one of those kinds of locomotives that you have just because its cool, you know? i often debate if buying a smoke generator is worth the money simply becase i run it only ever so often.
 

NSES44DC

New Member
green elite cab....you should try the megasteam. Someone on here was talking about it. They had a link and everything. Its supposed to be really good smoke fluid.
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
Our modular club sets up at train shows with n scale clubs Lionel clubs, and LGB clubs. When we are set up next to the Lionel or the LGB guys we have a terrible time keeping track clean, and the air pollution is absolutely awful. I would not recomend using smoke on anything smaller than S gauge.
 
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