Smoke pellets.

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

On a swap meeting I purchased a Lionel with smoke unit. It’s one needing TLC, but it started smoking quite fats after putting it on the track.
BUT Since I don’t have more to burn there then the old residu I have a few questions.

  1. Does it harm the smoke unit to run without pellets?
  2. What is a smoke pellet in consistance?
  3. Does anyone know someting better obtainable then smokepellets?
    (smoke in seuthe-units can be changed for lamp-oil)

I’ve seen the advert for smokepellets in the CTT, but I still have to order it in the USA, instead of buying it in a toyshop here.
If nothing works else, I’ll order some of them, but since I’m a dutchman I search the most inexpensive way[:D][:D]

2
  1. Don’t run the unit without pellets, or you could burn it out.
    2.The pellets are meta-terphenyl(a.k.a. 1,3-terphenyl, meta-diphenylbenzene, 1,3-diphenylbenzene), a white, waxy solid sometimes used as an insulator in high voltage electrical transformers.
    3.Liquid smoke fluid(available for $5 or so per bottle) will work just fine in a pellet unit, just as long as you don’t overfill it. I wouldn’t suggest using lamp oil or Seuthe fluid, though.
3

Running a pellet-type unit without pellets won’t hurt it. Running a liquid-type unit dry can burn up the wick.

4

You may want to consider converting it to liquid smoke. Several parts dealers have inexpensive kits for this purpose. They are easy to install and produce much more smoke than the pellet-type units. I have 2 Lionel 681s, one of which I converted and one in which I rebuilt the pellet unit. The converted one puts out more smoke and starts smoking much faster than the original one. Plus, even now that new pellets are again available, the liquid is still a lot cheaper. There was an article about this in one of the magazines, I think it was CTT, but I can’t remember when. Maybe someone else can help out with that.

Jim

5

thanks for the information. I saw that the unit contains a resistor-wire which heats up. Theoretical it should work with smoke oil too. The problem is that not everything is as easy obtainable as in the USA, so converting or using pellets I’ll do when everything else fails.
I’ve the rest of the engine running too now and the wheels are derusted. Really a pretty engine with a mechanic puffing mechanism. That’s why I would like it to smoke…

6

I just bought a Lionel 2018 with the pellet type smoke system, & myself I like it better. I didn’t have any knowledge that the engine even smoked until I put her on the track. It smokes much more than any of my fluid type smokers. I have a nice Railking Berkshire with a liquid smoke setup, it smokes more than the 2018, but doesn’t last long at all. I constantly have to put smoke fluid in it, but the 2018 smokes “almost” as much, & it’s still burning the last smoke pill someone put in it 15 years ago. I did try on thing though. I added 1 drop of Singer sowing machine oil to it & it smoked like gangbusters. didn’t really smell any worse than anything else ether

Later,
Jerry

7

Thanks nitro man, mine is an early type 2026 with one axle on the back. I figured it should smoke with fluid or oil too & will try as soon as I wired up the layout. Mine started to smoke also as soon as i put power on. Still a residu of a pil from long ago…

8

Jerry,
Sewing machine oil is really just 3-in-1 oil, which some American Flyer guys have been using for years in their engines with good results. I use 3-in-1 to shine the paint on postwar steam engines, and droppped some down the stack of my 681 one time by accident. It did seem to smoke well, but the smell really bothered me, to the point that I wouldn’t do it again. There’s also the fairly high flammibility of 3-in-1, as it’s really very close to kersosene chemically speaking.

9

I use 3-1 in my engines, no problem Bennie.

pax[C):-)]

10

I have some usefull info for you:

CTT had 2 related articles on smoke units.

Jan. 2003 issue, page #66:

“The Secrets of Smoke”
(What it’s made from & how it works)

Also Feb. 2003 issue, page #70:

“Repairing Lionels Smoke Units”
(How to clean, & repair or convert them to liquid smoke)

This last article is very detailed, including pictures.

If you wi***o buy new smoke pellets, of the orignal formula, CTT has an ad in the Dec. 2004 issue on page #9:

Toy Trains Unlimited in Texas
www.toytrainsunlimited.com
(214) 267-8697

They sell bottles of 50 pellets for $14.95.

11

Hi WabashCannon Ball,

Very nicely documented.

Nice to see another Buckeye on the forum. BTW – what part of NE Ohio do you live in [?]

tom

12

Hi Tom, Glad to meet you, and thanks for the compliment :slight_smile:

I live in Warren, (Trumbull Co.), only about an hour’s drive from you.

I guess I should go update my profile a bit, as I haven’t done so probably since I joined this forum a few years ago…

I clicked the homepage link of yours from your profile, which led me to your member page at MTH, which further led me to your Wabash 1 & 2 pages.

I was excited to see that you & I own the exact same train set— The Railking Wabash 464 Hudson, aka: Wabash Cannonball!!!

I love that set. Originally I had the original 4 car Pass. set, then got the extra 2-car combine/diner set, making it 6 cars.

Later down the road, I even bought a duplicate 6 car set, so I now have 12 cars for my Cannonball!!!

It was great meeting you…

13

I like the elephant ears on that engine. I just have the 4 car passenger set.

When you were on the web page, did you also check out the video links at the bottom of the pages [?]

Just so happens I will be going thru Warren this Saturday morning on my way to Lordstown. Years past, I lived in Huntsburg, and spent much time in Warren.

If you are ever up in Willoughby area, drop me a line, and stop for a vist.

tom

14

Hi Tom,
If you ever have a chance and can find those cars, they aren’t that expensive anymore. 12 cars looks so nice behind that engine, but even just the addition of the 2-car combine/diner set makes that train look so much nicer.
12 cars are a bit too much for the engine to pull if you use 31 radius curves though. However, it has no trouble at all with 42 radius curves & 12 cars.

I’ve occasionally removed the elephant ears from the engine, but doing so also does away with the white/red stripe, as it is all the same piece.

Without the ears on, the only portion of the stripe left, is under the cab window. This doesn’t look very nice, because I’m too attached to the stripe.

The ears are easily removed, if you ever get the “urge”.

Remove the main shell with the 4 screws underneath. Once you have the shell off, each ear can be removed by unscrewing about 4 screws from each side’s ear. (about 8 screws, total --12 including the shell’s)

I don’t have a permanent layout to invite you to see, this Sat., as I only run trains under the Christmas tree, due to a lack of room.

However, I might just drop you a line sometime if I’m up your way. Seems by your member’s site that you run trains all year?

PS: I’m using WebTV, which has a pretty slow processor & outdated windows media player / flash plugin.
It’s very likely I won’t be able to play your videos, but I’ll give it a shot.

We can play small size mpegs pretty well, however.

Webtv can only be upgraded by server side updates on msn, not by individuals.
Mark

15

Yes Mark, our layout is up all year long. We also have a Christmas layout, 4 x 8 during the season.

Most of the videos are 3 to 8 mgs. We tried to kept them short for the people with dial-up.

You should join us on the ‘Coffee pot is always on’ thread. ChiefEagles would love to see another Buckeye on the forum.

tom