# Smoke... not a fan, but it's your layout



## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

_*Few benefits*
But the drawbacks bite._

Clubs usually have rules, and all the HO clubs I've visited seem to have basically the same ones regarding equipment.
The most common ones I've seen are that all locomotives and rolling stock must have Kadee or ProtoMax couplers, and all rolling stock must have metal wheels.
_Smoke is generally forbidden_, except some clubs may schedule special nights when it's allowed.
I've witnessed one of those nights, and I'll never do it again... you wouldn't believe the amount of smoke that filled the building. I had to leave because my eyes were burning.

On the average home layout, smoke is seemingly a harmless choice. But it's potentially a messy proposition at best.

One of my diesels is a BLI [CSX] AC6000 with the smoke option. I was offered a free BLI 'lighter fluid' tube with the purchase, but I turned it down.
I've seen what loco-smoke residue can do to the rails, structures, and surfaces of a layout... yeck.
Not to mention possible (if not debatable) health issues.
_No thankyou._
But it's your layout.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Very first thing I check with a new smoker is to see if the switch is turned off, or I turn it off with CV setting.

Smoke, like water, can't be scaled. And I can't be fooled.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

LateStarter said:


> I've seen what loco-smoke residue can do to the rails, structures, and surfaces of a layout... yeck.
> Not to mention possible (if not debatable) health issues.


When in college and poor as a church mouse I heated with kerosene. I figure there's not much difference.


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## mustangcobra94 (Apr 28, 2014)

i didn't know they a smoking diesel engine in ho, i seen them in o scale. interesting i'll have check u tube for a video of one


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Several European manufacturers offer smoke in their HO scale locomotives, including Diesel.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

_*Does it make scents?*
Choose your flavor._

Model locomotive smoke even comes in many different scents...
I've counted dozens of different ones offered... from _"Coal-fired steam"_ to _"Candy Cane"_ & _"Coffee & Bacon"_.
Eeesh.

But the one common denominator in all the literature is this warning:
_*"Do not use smoke units around people or children with asthma or other respiritory sensitivites."*_


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I don’t think it makes sense at all.....


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

I'd pass on any option for smoke. As good as it looks, I clean track and structures enough as it is without adding to the work by my own choice.

Running electric locomotives has its advantages.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

MichaelE said:


> Running electric locomotives has its advantages.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

_*Marked "Safe" from smoking today*:_


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

MichaelE said:


> I'd pass on any option for smoke. As good as it looks, I clean track and structures enough as it is without adding to the work by my own choice.
> 
> Running electric locomotives has its advantages.


As good as it looks? I don’t think it looks that good at all....too whispy, not at all like the real thing....


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## afboundguy (Jan 10, 2021)

I was over a friend's house after the train meeting on Sunday and he had smoke on one of his daughter's O gauge trains and even with it puffing actual puffs it still wasn't realistic and I forgot how much it smelt so I'm with the OP on this!!! Unless HO engines start making realistic smoke (which from reading doesn't seem like anytime soon) it'll be a hard pass from me as well...


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

This one puts out some smoke.
The BLI Challenger.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

afboundguy said:


> I was over a friend's house after the train meeting on Sunday and he had smoke on one of his daughter's O gauge trains and even with it puffing actual puffs it still wasn't realistic and I forgot how much it smelt so I'm with the OP on this!!! Unless HO engines start making realistic smoke (which from reading doesn't seem like anytime soon) it'll be a hard pass from me as well...


Even when steam was running on the prototype, it was banned from the centers of large cities as early as 1908. This provided the impetus for electric locomotives and third rail or catenary systems.

Why we would want to smoke up 200 cubic feet of perfectly good train room atmosphere is beyond me.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Yeah, that BLI puts out some smoke....albeit very wispy and thin.....as has been said smoke and water do not “scale” very well.....


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## Jscullans (Jul 8, 2019)

I know bli offers smoke along with mth which is all fine and dandy but I agree with smoke not scaling well. Even when I was a kid running a Lionel locomotive I thought the smoke not only smelled terrible but also looked pretty cheesy. Is it just me or does it seem like about all bli sound equipped locomotives sound about exactly the same? I usually shut off the sound while running my sound equipped locomotives anyway but my tsunami locomotives sound better in my opinion than my bli locos


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

I've heard the Trix Big Boy smokers are a bit more realistic, but for a thousand bucks I would expect so.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Jscullans said:


> I know bli offers smoke along with mth which is all fine and dandy but I agree with smoke not scaling well. Even when I was a kid running a Lionel locomotive I thought the smoke not only smelled terrible but also looked pretty cheesy. Is it just me or does it seem like about all bli sound equipped locomotives sound about exactly the same? I usually shut off the sound while running my sound equipped locomotives anyway but my tsunami locomotives sound better in my opinion than my bli locos


I started with BLI steamers that were sold with QSI decoders in them in the mid-2000's. I liked the sound and got used to their version of Pennsy sounds. When BLI produced their own decoders starting about 2009-ish, their Pennsy and NYC sounds were substantially different. They were good quality, but hardly like what videos of the time or what QSI offered. Disappointing.


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## NickelPlate759 (Jul 8, 2011)

I think smoke is best left to vintage toy and tinplate trains, which are simplified and robust enough to deal with the oil buildup. One of my best memories is the smell of the smoke from my father's American Flyer 322 Hudson, but sadly I haven't found a smoke fluid since that replicates it. 

I had fun restoring this Gilbert 1948 smoke-in-tender Hudson that I bought in fairly sad condition at the LHS last year. I was amazed to find that the bellows and tubing are intact and pliable after over 70 years. Running this for a while can really fill a room, and I usually have to open windows to dissipate the smell. Fortunately the tender has an off switch for the smoke unit, something the later boiler mounted units lacked. Between the two motors, heating element, and panel lamp headlight the current draw on this is about 1 3/4 amps, enough to trip the breaker in some modern power packs. It's an interesting piece of model railroading history.



















But on a scale model railroad, I agree that smoke is a no-go. It just deposits vaporized oil on every surface, as the sheen on the Hudson's boiler attests. In fact when I repair old Bachmann steamers like the Reading 2-8-0 in the background, one of the first things I do is ditch their messy smoke unit and make a lead slug weight to fill the cavity in the frame for better balance. 

I'm surprised that so many high end manufacturers are pushing it, but I guess they're trying to appeal to a wider customer base with bells & whistles. 

Nelson


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## BigGRacing (Sep 25, 2020)

I think that the smoke looks awesome and adds some realism.....sadly the smoke doesn’t like me.....don’t know what I will do in the future, but I know my vaporizer through my smoke stacks worked really well for now in my structures. For the engineers out there, maybe small boilers vs oil burners?


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## Yoppeh7J-UPmp954 (Nov 23, 2014)

Union Pacific Mikado 2142 in my avatar (Aug 1947 picture) is approaching the grade crossing going from US30S to my fathers farm below the UP main line. I had my eyes filed with smoke and hot cinders so many times waiting for east bound freights that I still remember the pain. The trains pulled by Big Boys, Challengers, etc. would be slowing down to enter the Echo yards that was just 1/2 mile from the crossing to take on coal and water.
Seeing smoke coming from model trains are a painful reminder which causes me to look for the off switch before checking out the locomotive if they are smoke equipped. The last time at the Hostlers train show at Union Station in Ogden in the room where they had smoke engines running it was hard to see anything and the stink was unbearable.


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## Jscullans (Jul 8, 2019)

The only one I would like that has smoke is a “live steam” model in ho scale. I’ve found a few and think it would be neat but I doubt I would run it much


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## Sideways (Jan 25, 2021)

From my experience, although there are probably many better smoke generators out there, all it does is slather oil everywhere (and I mean, _everywhere) _and personally, I find that it always looks like someone stuffed their cigarette butt down the stack.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I'm a smoke fan, and I just make sure it looks somewhat realistic.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

There’s always one in every crowd.....🤣


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