Boy things have changed around here, you leave for 5 months and I have to re-log in and the system doesn’t even remember me! Oh well. Anyhow for those who don’t remember, I was last building the Granite Gorge and Northern RR in HO scale but due to hot temperatures here in Phoenix, AZ I decided to take most of the summer off. I’m now getting the bug again and getting things ready to return to the layout once temperatures drop a few more degrees to make the garage tolerable.
Anyhow, as I’m getting ready I was thinking of an idea for my layout that I would like to pursue. My track is down and the foam scenery is just about all carved and I can comfortably run trains around which includes a small city scene with a bit of street running. I would like to model fog. Even though my trackplan is Granite Gorge and Northern (mostly mountainous) I am focusing the scenery on western deserts, especially California where you have the tule fog. I was thinking of dry ice. The fog machines with fog juice to me would be less forgiving than the humidity factor of dry ice. I was thinking of putting a small homemade fog machine toward the rear of my layout and using it a few times a week during operating sessions, once I get to that point. Any ideas? Would the continued dry ice use ruin my track work? Not overly concerned with the scenery…this I can work with…more concernerd with the track. Any ideas would be appreciated! Thanks and it’s great to be back home, Steve
I would worry about using water anyplace with much regularity. If you just want 5 minutes for an open house or a photo shoot maybe, but regularlyit will corrode everything but the plastic which will grow mold.
I have been expermenting with white microfiber, and think there are possibilities. The big advantage is when I get it in it is always there to enjoy.
If you’ve got a ready supply of dry ice, go for it. It’s just frozen carbon dioxide, the same stuff that us critters exhale and plants inhale. Unless you are in a very small, tightly-sealed environment, the excess carbon dioxide (C-O-2, can’t do subscripts here) will be negligible. It will evaporate completely, and will not significantly react with anything on your layout.
Hiatus? What hiatus? I was away from MR for 40 years, and I came back. And nobody remembered me, either.
I don’t see why dry ice would have any effect on the humidity. As Mr. B said, it just evaporates. Even though the name is “dry ice”, it really doesn’t have any H20 (ice or water) in it.
I’d say go for it. How long do you estimate the effect would last? I might give it a try.
Thanks for the info, I’ll start working with dry ice this Fall. I plan to build a small heating unit and use a fan blower to push the fog out from the rear of the layout. I guess it depends upon the air temperature and any breezes in terms of how long the fog will stay around. I was kind of hoping to at least get 10 or 15 mins out of it but that might be pushing it. Since I’ve had a lot of interested people want to look at the layout, I thought it would be a neat addition, especially with a night scene. Many Thanks! Steve
Wear heavy gloves if you need to handle the dry ice. If you store it in a metal container, remember that the metal will cool down to the dry ice temperature, too, so treat it with care. The extreme cold will damage unprotected skin. Yeah, you can get your fingers stuck to it. And don’t even think of licking it to see what it tastes like. [:D]
I suspect that a small six-pack sized cooler of dry ice would give you fog for hours before it was all gone, but that’s just a guess.
I seem to remember the fog associated with dry ice is actually water vapor condensing from the air. If that is the case, then you may expect to see some damage from the water vapor. However, I should think this would be rather minimal in your climate. The amount of fog generated may not be so much either! Great experiment anyway it comes out.
That is correct. The fog you get from dry ice is the water vapor condensing in the super-cold air. Not sure how much fog effect you’d get in Phoenix since, as they are fond of saying, “it’s a dry heat”.
Wisely note the safe handling precautions. Dry ice isn’t something to fool around with.
I suggested micro fiber earlier, and continued experments are encouraging. It is not damaging and it is always there. The mechanics of producing the fog, when and where you want it will be difficult. As pointed out, fog on demand in low humidity is really frustrating. To have a five minute fog even at an open house will take a continuos production and leave a lot of water in the air.