# Lack of Smoke in HO Trains



## bunnmik (Jun 7, 2010)

I just bought a small Bachman Rio Grande steam loco for my son. It had both light and smoke and cost about $80.00. The train ran fine except it refused to smoke. At first I put 3-4 drops in and then when it didn't smoke after a few minutes I put a few more drops in. It still would not smoke. I brought it back to the dealer who tested it out and basically said with a oh hum attitude, "well that's the way they are". Annoyed, I returned it for a refund. Now my question(s) to you all is this......

Do all HO trains smoke just as crappy or is it a Bachman problem? Or did I just pick a defective one?

Is there a particular brand of HO train that is of good quality? Keep in mind it is for my 5 year old son and I'm not about to go out and buy him a $300 steam loco (at least not yet) and according to him "it must smoke". 

Any help and/or suggestions is appreciated.


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## full maxx (Nov 8, 2009)

I'm no expert about smoke but everything I have read is, its a bad idea as the engine has to be ran as fast as it goes for a few minutes to make it smoke and the smoke will leave a residue on the engine and all the cars and the track which will need a lot more cleaning because of it...was gonna get my little engineer one but decided against it because of this


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## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

I have a DC Bachmann with smoke. It needs allot of current to get hot enough to smoke. At that speed it is unrealistic. Also if there is a little too much oil in it it will spit, making a mess of everything.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Don't care for it myself for the above mentioned reasons, most clubs actually ban its use.


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