For those that have a Premium Membership, is that smoke coming out from the wheels?
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Chipset, The B6 switcher that you refer to, is it a Lionel 6-18000? They have steam from the steam chest, as well as the stack, or what was advertised.
I've run mine a few times, and it looks like all of the packing as blown out of the slide valve, or piston rod area. I haven't had it apart to see exactly where it's suppose to come from.
But it appears that it wasn't a very good design. Now with that said, some of the Pro Techs that follow the forum here may have a fix, thus giving us something not unlike the new whistle smoke, that we can enjoy. 
I hope one of the Pro's will come to our rescue on this subject.............Brandy!
I think it actually looks cool, I was not sure if that was intended or not.
Lionel started doing this in 1981 when they redid the Norfolk & Western J, though it was more of a gimmick really. I think it was trying to make it looked like steam was swirling out of the steam chest cylinder bases like real ones, but couldn't get the smoke to go down all the way like it should have. Lionel later showed the right way to do this on engines like the J1A 2-10-4 and the Milwaukee Road S3, but a lot of engines since then have had the feature. Lionel Jr. Mikados could do it.
Rich and I had a lot of fun doing the video for the Lionel B-6 Switcher in Collector's Gallery Yes, the original idea from Lionel was to have smoke come out of the steam chest. The one we used in the video worked about as well any others I have seen from that era. The smoke that puffs out of the stack is synchronized with the engine speed which is a neat effect and works well with the B-6
There are several other impressive things about this steamer, aside from its historical significance. We detail them in the article.
Ed Boyle
Partner
Special Projects Editor
O Gauge Railroading magazine
That was an awesome review Ed!
Thanks for the kind words
Really enjoyed doing the research for it.
Nice article and review, guys. It is, however, one of the few Lionel locos I will pass on. Not sure why, just does not resonate with me. I like the third rail one more . . .
I've seen that smoke effect before. On those rare occasions when it starts really cooking, it can be a bit disconcerting just for the volume and where it is coming from, but its a fun effect.
Did you all notice the "natural weathering" on the older version?
70+ years on the tender.
Looks real....because it is!
K-line also did a B6. Available at the time from TAS was a drop-in EOB upgrade. The K-Line model was pretty well detailed, small motor for the weight was an issue, IMO.
