MPC Era Smoke Unit Question

I just received a Lionel 442 Milwaukee Road 8305 steamer from the 1973 Milwaukee Road passenger train set.

Since I don’t use smoke, I was going to turn the smoke unit off before I give it a test run, but there is no apparent off switch for the smoke unit.

Were the smoke units in these locomotives robust enough to survive without smoke fluid, or should I dissassemble the loco and disconnect the smoke unit internally if I want to run this loco for extended periods?

---------------------- Bill

Hello Bill! I’ve got one of those trains. The answer to your question is No,The Smoke Unit does not have a switch.If you disconnect the smoke generator you will also have no headlight as that is wired into the circuit as well. Your best bet is just to keep a couple of drops of fluid in the smoke generator to keep it from burning out. Take Care.