Basically new to the board and the hobby, just picked up a Polar Express set for Xmas and I had some questions on the smoke system so I’ve joined the board to ask.
I have done some searching and have seen that there already some threads on this but I was hoping I could be grated a newbee free pass to ask again
Also I apologize that this is a bit long but I want to state the things I have already done so as to let anyone know before I ask my questions.
Anyway, as probably could be imagined I’m not happy much with the smoke that it’s producing, it eventually does make a bit at full speed but give that it’s such a small track I really prefer to run it at a bout 50 to 65% otherwise its not very realistic.
So after reading a few posts about this I learned how I could disassemble the engine and replace the original smoke wicking with house fiberglass and I did that.
Now just to mention a few things, when I ran the engine for the first time it eventually made quite a bit of smoke, in fact it kinda hazed up the living room quite a bit. Funny thing was though it really didn’t seem like it was the regular type of smoke, IE the type you see produce by the from the stack, kinda made me think it was basically being mixed with some shipping oil on some parts that was burning off too but the engine ran and has continued to run fine.
At any rate, it was a bit of time before I got to the part about that there was a switch to shut the smoke off so I guess the point I’m
Not all my posts are always this long and I kinda was thinking it would end up defeating the purpose as who gonna read thought all that but I’ve have had several hobbies over the years and have made my fair share of posts and when I do one that I already know a bunch of stuff about but I just kinda need to fill in the blanks, sometimes I end up making a post like that or else then it ends up going though about for or five ones of, yeah I did that, that’s not the issue, and then you end up sounding like a wise ass.
So I was just trying to cut through some of that and get some of those blanks filled in.
Long threads require too much of most people and you lose their interest. Parsing through all the words takes more time than most people want to invest in helping.
I just put lots of cars behind the pe loco which increases the input voltage to the smoke circuit and gets me more heat/smoke at a slightly slower speed.
Somebody may come along and offer the technical support you are asking
Yeah it’s easy to be misunderstood and no offense was taken btw if that is what you meant but this is kinda what I was talking about.
Basically I already have five cars plus the engine and tender, which is basically the number of cars there was in the movie when the main character child is picked up.
Also I have added more track but it still is basically only a 10’ oval with the original 036 curves (I think that’s right). With all those at this point that adds up to about almost 7’ of cars total so I think any more will not look right. I also really want to stay in line with the film so I don’t want to add anything that isn’t right for that such as some other type of car that’s heavier.
I know at the end of the film there’s a lot of cars but again, I think anymore on the amount of track I have now may look silly.
I was thinking that I could open up some of the cars and add some weights to them but I still haven’t figured out how to do that yet.
The instructions show that you press in at the windows to release the top caps but I have been kinda trying that with as much force as I feel is OK to use before something breaks and they don’t seem to budge.
I was thinking of taking one by my local Lionel repair shop and seeing of I can get their guy to show me how it’s done.
I wish I could provide you with an instant solution, you sure seem to be on the right track.
My observations are;
Lionel is typically NOT the best smokers.
I have a bunch of the aftermarket liquid smoke that you mention, I have found they do well in the very short term, but not overall. Some folks say its reasonable to change the wicke frequently to use that smoke fluid. I feel that’s unreasonable. I prefer the original.
Adding smoke frequently is typical. Our PE doesn’t smoke real great either, but it does about the same as you described for yours. I know if it idles a bit it really will smoke well for a while.
Trying to remove the PE car roofs is futile doing it the way Lionel suggests…
Try inserting a wide, flat blade screwdriver into the seam between the black roof and gray body…twist the blade gently and you should hear it pop loose. You might have to try this in different locations along the seam - the corners seem the easiest.
Once you have removed the roof(s), eliminate the sharp edge on top the four tabs so roof removal will be easier.
Thanks for your reply dbaker48 but I wonder if I might inquire a bit to it to clarify a few things.
So when you say “they work better for the sort term” does that mean it’s correct that they tend to clog up the system more too?
If so, is that what you mean that “some say the wicking material needs to be changed more often” as a way that this condition can be dealt with?
So when you say “adding smoke” do you mean the fluid, I have noticed, an now better understand why as I see how its constructed, that it smokes better right after I add fluid, which I’m assuming is because I have soaked the whole element in fluid.
Actually this is a point I forgot to bring up in that, I have found that if I have been running the set for a bit so I know the element isn’t cold and stop it and power it up to full in neutral and let it sit a bit and run it again, I don’t see any additional smoke, in fact it often is much more reduced. I came to the conclusion from this that the element is only on in forward or reverse.
I have often read people talk about what you mentioned though, so when you say “idle” do you mean by this that you are in forw
The secret is to squeeze the windows in from the bottom or sides instead of trying to reach over the top… hold the car in front of you with the windows facing to your left & right between your hands.
Press in on the “notched” rear windows with both index fingers using a pushing up motion at the same time to “unlock” the raised tabs from the windows. Switch to the front windows and do the same. Repeat on back windows again… usually by this time you have opened up the roof enough to get a grip on the roof panel and raise it straight up & out of the car.
Thanks for your reply dbaker48 but I wonder if I might inquire a bit to it to clarify a few things.
So when you say “they work better for the sort term” does that mean it’s correct that they tend to clog up the system more too?
It was my contention that the scent additive could possibly leave a residue on the wick as a result of the heating and dissapation of the oil component. I contacted the manufacturer regarding this, and did NOT get any substantial reply, mostly avoidance of my questions. Therefore, my assumption was that the wick would have a shorter life due to the build up of this residue.
If so, is that what you mean that “some say the wicking material needs to be changed more often” as a way that this condition can be dealt with?
As a result of my posting that assertion on another forum, some of the members indicated that they found it necessary as part of a normal routine, to replace the wick as a matter of regular maintance on all their engines atleast annually. On some that may be acceptable, but, I find on a lot of the new engines that the less you need to disassemble the better off you are. And, if the wick needs to be replaced to accomodate the scented smoke, then I began to question the benefit.
this engines smoke unit already has a spring on top of the piston pump. I put mine on a test bench and found more smoke comes out the bottom of the piston pump then goes out the stack. there’s a lot of slop between the piston and smoke unit side walls very poor design tolerances. best of luck a smoker she’s not a distraction from life she is!
You don’t want to let the smoke unit to go dry while you are running it as it will cause the resistor to burn up in the smoke unit. I did that to a loco while taking pictures with the engine idling for a few minutes I then sent it down the line. The 2 inch flame it shot out the stack as it was going up the grade looked cool but I will be replacing the resistor now.
If you want to piss off the misses, get a engine with a fan driven smoke unit. Fills up a 20x30 basement pretty quick.
OMG thats unbelievable, yeah that certainly would be a cause for concern.
Actually I’m still not sure of this whole sitting in idle thing for this engine though. I was running it again last night and if I put the train in neutral and apply full power I don’t get any smoke after I start rolling again, at least non that I would consider more then residual if it had on previously to that. Then if I put it in forward and only apply just enough power to have it on but not rolling, theres so little power it really doesn’t increase the smoke much and if I do that for too long it keeps getting less.
Of course if I have been running it at full for a bit and build up as much as it will make and then stop it as fast as I can and let it sit for only about 10 seconds or less, on the initial startup I get several good puffs but I would again say, that was just the residual that had been sitting from the full power run.
I could be wrong and I think the next time I have the engine apart I’ll check it but it doesn’t appear to me that the element is ever on except when rolling, and then its level of heating is proportionate to the power a usual.
start at the 1:40 timeline. If you want smoke like that you’re going to have to upgrade to a FAN DRIVEN SYNCHRONIZED smoke unit. I’m not sure if that would be cost effective, though - perhaps someone on the forums might have a used steamer and tender available for sale/trade.
Bottom line: You can trick up your existing loco but you’re not going to be able to substantially improve the smoke output, Of course, what you want can only be determined by you. Maybe someone has a video of their Polar Express smoking to give you benchmark as to what the PE is capable of.
