# Why is model train smoke oil based and not straight water?



## Chaostrain (Jan 27, 2015)

I searched the web and the forum and can't find an answer. I'm just curious. I have my guesses but that's all I have. Anything you can tell would be greatly appricated.


----------



## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Maybe because water doesn't burn too well.


----------



## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

oil [in the 'smoke' mix] vaporizes at a lower temperature than water turns to steam at ....
also oil vapour lasts longer than water steam vapour ..


----------



## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Bingo!


----------



## Don F (Dec 5, 2015)

Water would also reek havoc on the innards!


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

MichaelE said:


> Maybe because water doesn't burn too well.


One *REALLY* hopes the smoke fluid isn't actually burning!


----------



## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

You could not have any plastic bridges. The steam would melt it.


----------



## 65446 (Sep 22, 2018)

Also, I'd think the amount of water you'd need would, ironically, have to fill the whole boiler and tender in order for steam to last long enough to make it worth while....But it would be nice, a steam engine making steam !!


----------



## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Ironically, the steam, if it were possible and practical, would scale a lot better than the wispy mineral oil vapors. However, we see condensed steam when it issues from the stacks of real steamers, and that would be a little less obvious or appreciable inside our homes.


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Wispy? Wash your mouth out!


----------



## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Wispy at best....

No matter how good model train smoke can get, it’ll never be like the real trains....


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Old_Hobo said:


> Wispy at best....
> 
> No matter how good model train smoke can get, it’ll never be like the real trains....


Well, DUH!  There's a lot of things about model trains that aren't gonna' be like the real prototype! However, it's not usual for real trains to look like your prototype picture either.


----------



## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Especially the diesels.....unless they’re Alco’s....


----------



## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

Holy Atmosphere Batman. What's he cooking in there..... 

Love the picture OH.


----------



## Djsfantasi (Mar 19, 2019)

While mineral oil is often used as a component in model smoke fluid, glycerin is the component that makes dense smoke. It’s also the component in vape pods that make smoke.


----------



## pat (Sep 1, 2018)

could you use vape liquid for smoke would that work ? I have tried different manufactures smoke fluid and it seems to give me a headache after a little while any suggestions


----------



## rdj6737 (Aug 9, 2017)

pat said:


> could you use vape liquid for smoke would that work ? I have tried different manufactures smoke fluid and it seems to give me a headache after a little while any suggestions


 Open the windows ? Turn on a fan ?
Basically, smoke is bad for you ! Your lungs work best with O2, N2, and H2O mixture; nothing else. It's also bad for the layout and will eventually affect it enough to notice.
Anti-air pollution laws in large cities were used to force railroads to go to electric power and later to diesel-electric. They didn't like to breath the smoke, have it get in their eyes, and have it wreck the laundry either.
Even people who like the smell of steam engines get tired of it when it is too strong and too long.
Reynold
Puyallup


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

pat said:


> could you use vape liquid for smoke would that work ? I have tried different manufactures smoke fluid and it seems to give me a headache after a little while any suggestions


Why in the world would you want to? It's certainly way more expensive than smoke fluid, not to mention that it's spewing nicotine laced "smoke"!


----------



## scenicsRme (Aug 19, 2020)

Water steam is nearly invisible unless you are going to chill your train room down to about 40*F, is at 212*F when it comes out, plus water and electricity doesn't play nice together. If the chemical smoke is giving you a headache, you must be running a lot of steamers, open a window and/or install a fan to circulate the air.


----------



## pat (Sep 1, 2018)

no i dont run very many steamers. i can run one BLI diesel or steam around the layout and the smoke will start to give me a sinus headache . i have tried different smoke fluids like jts mega steam pine scent and thats not so bad but after a little while i get a headache . when someone was mentioning vaping i thought maybe that would work instead i didnt know it had nicotine in it . i have tried a fan to blow move the air around and that helps for a while . the vaping liquid was just an idea .


----------



## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

i know that you can get vape fluid without nicotine easikly, just as you can get all glycerine for more smoke .....
don't know if you can get all mineral oil, never asked ..


----------



## Chaostrain (Jan 27, 2015)

Thanks, guys! Yep, the reason for oil instead of water was what I was thinking. While looking for this information I did see where some poeple used sented and unsented lamp oil. Fill your train room with the sent of apple spice. Mmmmm, a nice winter aroma.


----------



## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

telltale said:


> Also, I'd think the amount of water you'd need would, ironically, have to fill the whole boiler and tender in order for steam to last long enough to make it worth while....But it would be nice, a steam engine making steam !!


Hornby Mallard in OO. A steam powered locomotive. Oh yes, it made its own steam alright, and in the box it came with, among other things, an oven mitt. I recall the boiler was located in the tender, and the steam was exceptionally hot by the time it worked its way into the miniature cylinders, and touching the locomotive bare handed was a terrible idea. 

Controlling the speed of this intriguing contraption required a steep learning curve. One opened the custom DCC throttle and waited, and waited, and you'd open a little more throttle and maybe it turned a quarter, and waited, ad infinitum, and eventually it would burst into motion at perhaps a scale 180 mph, upon hitting the first turn Newton's First Law kicked in, and off into great blue yonder she flew. I made an impressive lunge and snatched it from crashing to the floor when I suddenly became aware the thing felt white hot, and the drivers and side rods were rabidly digging holes in my palms. Screamed like a little girl and dropped it to the concrete floor. 










That was the end of that $700 experiment. 

Should only be run on the floor and surrounded by a good deal of padding until one get's the hang of it.


----------



## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

But why?


----------



## Dennis461 (Jan 5, 2018)

Water would freeze on winter themed layouts


----------

