What thoughts do you have for putting tiny bits of dry ice in the stack of non smoke unit equipped steamers instead of installing seuthe smoke units in order to generate smoke !
Frankly it think its insane but some seem to think it might be work and be alright.Am I wrong in my thinking?
I would not do it, I think the plastic would crack.
Cuda Ken
Dry ice is carbon dioxide at well, well, well below zero. What would be the thermal shock to the plastic of that area of the loco be? Vinyl siding will break easily at temps below freezing as well as PVC.
The areas around the stack would probably frost, and perhaps become covered with condensation, which would work into the mechanism.
Many years ago, Somebody made a dry ice powered steam locomotive. I remember reading that the cylinders and valves had a tendency to freeze up.
I’ve never understood the interest in smoke generators. None I’ve seen look particularly realisitc. (And would you really want one that did?)
These are all good answers. Still, if a person had a junker steamer he wanted to test, it might be worth a trial. The valid observation that consdensate might end up dripping down into the works below the stack is worth noting, although if an owner modified the base of the stack to enclose it, it wouldn’t be a big problem.
I haven’t seen a video yet, and I have enjoyed many on youtube taken of various models and manufacturers (yes, including MTH) showing ‘smoke’ being blown out of stacks, and I will admit the synch effect is darned good. However, it doesn’t linger or billow the way it does in real life, so the effect actually detracts from my enjoyment and fancy. Also, when a well-run steamer is running, even hard, it doesn’t necessarily smoke, and certainly not like the staged billowing that we have all seen done on the third run-by for adoring rail fans in the DVD’s. But more to the point, the smoke I have seen, when it shows, is faint, more continuous, and it tends to be greyish or brown blended. Only the steam mixed with that effect is white.
Be that as it may, for someone looking for an inexpensive smoke unit, it would be great to hear back if this works out. The worst that could happen on a safely closed bottom stack that won’t crack is that the stack outer neck gets a ring of white frost, as noted just above. But if it works, it would beat the heck out of the aerosols of oil, no matter how refined, that are left in the regular and improved units.
-Crandell
Frankly I ‘d be more concerned about the safety issue of just handling this stuff and I’m pretty damn sure you can’t get it in salt shaker size pieces you’re going to be working over at least a several pound chunk of dry ice with a ice pick with chips flyin’ all over…and who even has a ice pick in this day and age.
OMHO’ its just plain nuts to screw around with this s***
My (never actually built) answer to the cold steam frostup problem was to have a needle valve throttle and run the cold CO2 through the center of the nice, warm control solenoid. That was before I actually took any engineering courses…
I have seen more than a few real steamers (hand-fired with low-grade coal) blasting midnight clouds into the air as they ground their way upgrade with heavy loads. I have yet to see a steamer blowing whiffs of what looks rather like cigarette smoke into the air. As for a steamer with a rim of frost around the stack…
Mint Julep, anyone?
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with silent, smoke-free steam)
Chuck,
watch this one!
Well I think I disagree that it would cause the plastic to crack but IF I was going to do it I would take something like a spent 22 caliber shell casing and mount it under the stack (subject to the scale of the engine). The CO2 gas would not be nearly as cold as the solid stuff. There might even be a way to heat it then like with a light bulb that would increase production with voltage. Don’t let Al gore know about it though. You don;t want him showing up with the feds to make you global warming enemy #1.
Holy moly!!! I’d be worried about setting off the smoke detector. That’s pretty billowing!!
WOW!!! who makes that system?? i love the pet cocks blowing off. any idea how long the system stays active before having to re-plenish it?? i want 1 for my union pacific big boy!! please let us know… thanks… u.p. fan
After checking out their website it looks like that smoke is on their O gauge loco’s. I didn’t see it offered as a separate product.
Sorry, guys, this is not HO, nor even O scale - this is scale 1! But don´t despair, it will be available in HO scale soon. Roco has just announced their first model with that system, alas of German prototype.
I have seen the KM 1 loco in operation some time ago. It is very impressive, but I started coughing after a little while, although the room was well ventilated. That thing uses up the smoke fluid like a thirsty man a six-pack! There is a sizable tank built in, good for about 5 minutes of operation.
Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide which is a heavier than air gas. The vapor would tend to run down the side of the locomotive instead of billowing up realistically. You would have to have a blower inside the locomotive to make it go up.
Dry ice was the original fog machine in movies and theater.
Dry ice was used for locomotive smoke in this music video:
cCQ-MuHaSUM
KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
It appears to be a Hornby tender drive, so I guess they gutted the boiler and had some sort of cylinder in there to contain it. The effects on the model didn’t matter of course, since they only needed it for the shoot. It sure produced a lot of exhaust. I’ve heard that one of the band member’s brothers built all of the miniatures.
And the KLF? They were completely mad, but made some pretty interesting alternative dance music [{(-_-)}]