I have a VL Hudson, the whistle steam smoke works now and then. I ran the engine for about 30 minutes yesterday and the whistle steam smoke started working and was working a few minutes ago but nothing like the trains I see posted on this forum . If I add a few drops of fluid when the engine is cold, it will take the whistle steam 15-20 minutes to start smoking if it starts at all. It is a hit and miss sort of thing, I have quit worrying about it. Yes I do the blowing to pop the bubble.
Brent