Hello, I need some help or advice on a very special Lionel locomotive in my collection. A few months ago, I purchased Tom McComas' 1999 Lionel Commodore Vanderbilt. This is the one that was seen in many of his programs including I Love Toy Trains 11. It has been heavily modified by McComas and his co-producer Joseph Stachler by swapping the original 777 chassis with one from a scale 5340 Hudson chassis from 1990. Joe also swapped out the original liquid smoke unit in favor for a postwar pellet smoke unit as it gave a better smoke effect for the filming of their shows. The locomotive runs great and the controls are smooth, but I am having trouble activating the smoke unit. This is a TMCC equipped locomotive and I press #9 on the cab 1 remote, but nothing happens. I put some smoke pellet halves in, but they won't melt as a result of the smoke unit not being on. I could really use some advice as I am planning to use this model for a film project I am working on. I want to keep the locomotive as is as it is a piece of model railroad and entertainment history.
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