IMHO, model smoke gets three strikes before it even reaches the on-deck circle:
My wife and I both have respiration problems.
I DON’T need an oily film on everything near the track.
My prototype put out smoke in clouds, not whisps - and it was black, not white.
As for the smoke units, none of my locos came with them. If they had, they would have joined the one installed decoder I found in kitbash fodder - removed to make room for additional weight.
I let my imagination provide that rolling cloud of combustion products. That way I don’t have to breathe them.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - silent and smokeless)
Worthless gimmick. I’ve asthma, and even though it doesn’t bother my lungs, it is still an irritant I can do without. As others have said, it doesn’t even look real.
Very sorry to hear about your “smoke-box” woes. In answer to your queries you can count me among the nay-sayers concerning smoke units. I was never really fond of them in my younger years. IMHO, i always thought they were for the “kid” factor. The “christmas effect” some might also say.
And that has carried over unto todays locomotives with nothing seemingly improved on except they puff to the beat of the chuff. Im not putting the idea down or anything, I just never thought smoke units should be in the mainstream. To intend an pun… smoke units are just a smoke screen.
However, just like everything else to do with model railroading… you never know when something is gonna pop up and change your mind. So, I am including a youtube link that has me thinking.
Cant wait to try this. Alas, I have no DCC locomotives! And I doubt I would get one just to pull this project off. Besides, Im HO not G. Though Im sure one of us crafty rapscallions could make it work. (hint hint)
Unless the commercial smoke unit can somehow equal whats seen in the video, I think the smoke unit will remain just a wow factor. Judging from some of the responses above, I dont think it will happen commercially.
Imagine a model steam era engine facility… “Ed? whered you go?” - “Im right here next to you, i aint moved an inch.” - “Ya mind dumping the fire on your Q2, I cant see my handheld.” [:-^]
Yeah, that’s the same smoke pills I had. I wonder what horrible carcinogenic stuff it was, since I believe it’s no longer available.
I doubt it left the oily residue everyone is complaining about. I imagine it left dust, if anything. I remember there was a wooden tool you used to crush the pill.
No smoke for me, it stinks and irritates my eyes nose and throat. It has caused me to have to leave train shows because the toy train folks all want to use it[+o(] by the gallons.
Ulrichs video however is the best representation of smoke I have see, it’s to bad they can’t figure a way to make something that wasn’t so bad for the people and the layout.
In 3-Rail O its not too bad, the volume is quite adequate for steam and/or diesel. I use JT-Mega steam smoke fluid in my Lionel and MTH locomotives. I use “Coal Fired Steamer and Diesel Power”. Diesel does not smell so good (but who really enjoys the smell of diesel exhaust, its nausiating on its own). Coal fired smells pretty close to riding behind a steam locomotives, not quite but close.
HO scale there is typicaly not enough internal space to put a smoke unit that give adequate volume.
My club is currently having the smoke/no smoke debate, among other things. Personally I suspect the track dirt problem is a combination of things, not just the smoke. We also have people who still use plastic wheels and have never cleaned them, we have had people lubricate their plain bearing journal boxes with actual grease, over lubricate other rolling stock components, over lubricate locomotives, locomotives that have traction tires (leaves a black residue on the tracks when exposed to track coated with the above lubricants and contaminants). To say that the smoke is solely responisble for issues with track is far from accurate. It likely contributes though. As far as banning it on our club layout, its not likely to happen because we are right next to the MTH booth at Amherst, and we also now have a 3rail O layout that the HO people will have no say in if smoke is used or not.
The G and German 1/32 scale videos DO look impressive. But read the comments; the G-scale guy with custom units is using diesel oil (!) as a smoke fluid. Indoors.
My childhood Lionel Pennsy engine had the steam generator unit. Used it about twice. It smelled really bad to me. If I bought a unit with “smoke” generator, it would never be used.
Watch several actual live steam models at NMRA convention this summer and the live steamers have virtual clear stack gas. Real steam with very black smoke is most likely due to soot blower operations or very poor firebox operations. Soot blowers generate very dense, black smoke.
When I run trains at my club open houses, I’ll use a steamer with smoke as the visitors always enjoy it, but otherwise, I’m not a fan. I’d be quite content if the HO-manufacturers would no longer install smoke units, and replace the space with additional weight.
That´s a statement I would not want to confirm in general. I agree, that even with a dynamic smoke unit installed, the smoke is not “thick” enough in HO scale models to give you the impression of a hard working steamer.
However, today´s smoke units in large scale models live up to my expectations, but
… smoke fluids are hazardous materials, even in the small quantities used in model railroading. The smoke should not be inhaled at all, as it causes lung problems and is a carcinogenic substance. If you check the data sheet of that stuff, there are a dozen warnings listed.
The same stuff is used to test smoke detection equipment. The people performing these tests are required to wear protective gear.
Unless the industry comes up with something proven to be harmless, my steam locos quit smoking, just like I did!
I differentiate between my 1940s American Flyer trains and my current HO scale layout.
Back in the 1950s, I spent untold hours in my parents basement running an American Flyer steam engine that I still own and occasionally run. Gone are the little red capsules with the liquid smoke refills, but I now have a couple of bottles of liquid smoke. For my American Flyer, smoke is essential, a must have. To paraphrase, I love the smell of liquid smoke fluid in the morning.
When I resurrected my American Flyers trains out of storage after a 45-year hiatus back in 2010, I had to repair and replace the smoke unit. I love to occasionally go down to the basement and run that sucker with smoke puffing out of the top of that steamer. The more, the better.
On my HO layout, I have a couple of steam engines from BLI with smoke. For laughs, I ran one with the smoke unit turned on for laughs and then turned it off never to run with smoke again. It simply is not the same thing as the American Flyers of my youth. In HO scale, I consider it a gimmick.
I’m in the, smoke represented fond memories of running trains as a kid camp, and though the smoke units in the BLI models are a vast improvement over those in say Bachmann train set steam engines, they’re to me more gimmicky then prototypical. Another complaint I have with smoke units is the awful smell when the smoke fluids burns off. It’s definitely not the same as what’s listed on the bottle!
The larger scale smoke units especially in 1-Gauge models, such as the German KM1 Modelbau pieces seen in the videos Ulrich posted, look much more impressive smoke output wise, though, the other problems, air pollution, smell, residue, would still be an issue.
As You probably remember, I had the same 4-6-2 You had, just a little earlier and I agree…it was a pretty good smoker…LOL the smell was not all that bad either…those little red bladder capsules, didn’t last too long though, I could only guess how many of those I went through. There used to be a Gilbert store on 26th & Halsted where You could get them. Real spruce pine tree smell and American Flyer smoke smell, at Christmas time…Love It…LOL
My three strongest pullers are steam engines with a smoke unit. I don’t always run with smoke, and I like to keep the volume low or off, but sometimes it’s great fun to crank the volume up to 11, turn the smoke on, and watch them puff.
I haven’t encountered issues with smoke leaving a film on the track or leaking everywhere since I was a kid and “the smoking engine” was an 80’s era Bachmann USRA 0-6-0.
Frank, I had forgotten that you had the same steamer. Love your story. I bought my red smoke capsules at Trost Hobby Shop, 3111 W. 63rd Street, Chicago, Illinois.
Haven’t turned a driver on my Under construction layout yet. Do have some steam with smoke units on board. These will be removed before that first drive wheel turns. Have no sound equipped units either, if I did the sound units would be right behind the smokers. Would miss the whistle though. Do have a 5 chime one I can hook up to a compressor though. Hmm, I’ll look into that possibility.
For shows and movie making, smoke is great for the kids.
That said it’s hard getting any decent amount of smoke out of a HO scale. And it does make a mess. (Those Scale 1 locos look great though!)
For those of you who want smoke, I picked up some uber cheap ultrasonic misters and enclosed them in a rubber box to isolate the sound. They make awesome factory smoke as it’s just water that evaporates and blows upward with a small low powered fan at the base.