Lionel Smoking Caboose

I only have one Lionel smoking caboose, and I don't rewmember if I tried it. The rest of my smokers are K Line. I wasn't aware of any MTH smokers?

Don

If your caboose has a plastic body I would leave it alone. You can change the resistor so it puts out more smoke but you risk melting the body. BTDT.

If its diecast then have it. 

 

Pete

I put MTH HO fan driven smoke units in these, that solves the problem of not smoking.

 

Sounds intriguing; do you have a part number?  Also, how do you plumb it to the stack of the O-Gauge caboose?  Thanks, Var

The smoke unit I use is MTH AA-1600000.  I use a small AC-DC power supply to provide the proper voltage, and I tossed in a couple of diodes to drop the voltage to the fan motor a bit, it likes to run at around 3VDC for good looking smoke from a caboose.

 

Here's a link to the thread with a picture of the smoke unit: https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...-your-own-smoke-cars

 

I use JB-Weld and some brass tubing to extend the stack to the proper length, it's sized to fit inside the caboose smokestack.

 

Hey John, great idea, am going to have to give this a go!

 

Uncle Al

How do you go about ordering one of these parts (and finding the price)?  I looked on the MTH parts page, but they don't seem to simply allow a search by part number.  I have a variable voltage regulator IC; thought I would try 4 v. as a compromise; thoughts?

Perfect timing for this post, as I am having the same issues as well.

John, I might just have to try that as well, thanks!

You should be able to order those by part number.  If you can't get them, drop me an email and I'll get one for you.  MSRP on those is $40.

 

Based on updraft. They don't smoke because like a loco, there is either a piston or a fan to force it out. I have one. Usually takes a lot of voltage to create smoke that trickle out

I use Sluthe smoke and the work fine.

Fred

I also wondered about Seuthe units. A couple of questions:

1.  How hot do they get; did you need to use a heat shield?
2.  What model/part number did you use?
3.  What voltage does it use; is 18v AC possible?
4.  Was it difficult to "plumb" to the caboose stack?

Thanks, Var

I have 6 Lionel smoking cabooses and they all work fine, however, I seldom use the smoke units because they get hot fast. I'll let them smoke for 10-15 minutes with full track voltage then shut them off.

 

How much smoke did you expect to see? It's not like a locomotive where smoke is going to pour out of the stack. The smoke wafts its way out of the chimney and kind of looks like smoke coming off the end of a cigarette.

Here you go, 16-22 volts: http://www.gaugemaster.com/ite...Mcode=Seuthe+SEUTHE8

 

You should be able to see how you'd plumb it to the stack, probably not that difficult.

 

Hi John:  very kind offer of help.  I am still debating what to do; my goal is to keep this simple, if possible, and also minimize costs.  I already committed an ERR mini-commander to this to permit ease of control; pretty soon it will rival an engine in cost  

I would have been happy if it looked like a cigarette; the smoke from this baby was barely visible (and totally dispersed/invisible once the train started moving).

This just may be the ticket; thanks again for your help!

If you go the seuthe route you could follow Williams example. Their engines use either a 5 volt or 12 volt smoke unit but are driven by a DC regulator. My best Williams smoker is a 2046 with a 5 volt smoke unit and regulator. It will begin to smoke at slow speeds and maintain that through normal speeds. If you plan to run this in a Command environment a 12 volts unit with 12 volt regulator would be better.

 

Pete

The beauty of the one I posted for command is you don't have anything but the smoke unit, no regulator board, etc.

 

The downside is zero smoke when running conventional.

 

Some folks replace their Williams smoke units when upgrading to TMCC. I suspect you could get a few at a reasonable price If you post in the WTB forum.

 

Pete

Ouch! That is US$36.53 (GBP 1 = US$1.54) for the SEUTHE before shipping, duties and import taxes if any.

http://www.gaugemaster.com/ite...Mcode=Seuthe+SEUTHE8

 

I thought maybe a MTH AA series would do the job. Am I dreaming or blowing smoke out my backside? I do not want to sound mean. I am learning like the rest of us novice.

Personally, I like my solution, I can tune the smoke to get what I think is the right amount from the caboose.  Another bonus is the sides of the fan driven unit don't get hot enough to warp the plastic sides, you could even stick it right against the shell.  I am not a Seuthe smoke unit fan, I find them substandard in many ways.  For the price of a crappy Seuthe smoke unit, I can have fan driven smoke, no contest here.

 

1. The 12v ones I saw were mounted in building chimneys made of hobby styrene, so Id say pretty cool.

2. I shopped for someone a long while, he dropped the project.

3. Various voltages, diameters, lengths, and well types.(bigger well = less filling) 

4. Depends on the train & unit, but in general they are tiniest for what they do.

The "chimney one" was about 1/3 the length of a Bic pen, and about the same diameter. Found it for $14 at a show. They do have large well, cast version about the size of most O too. They don't really have a good rep., tend to burn out wire from what I heard.( must be true, heard it on the net)(uh oh...multiple times) 

 They are a wet well, no wicking in the ones I saw. You can only use Seuthe fluid, no mixing of old Lionel type fluids either. Don't run them dry. 

 

No contest in an engine, though I have seen some impressive Seuthe G trains, they were modified. Compared to the Super Chuffer mod....well, "no contest" again

It would take a half dozen, or more to get close

 

They are a very nice piece for static structure, and scenery use.

If you have no space in your project, its better than nothing I guess.

 

  

 

Well, since my last comment yesterday, we experienced a power failure that lasted ~ 22 hours.  Lots to digest; will let everyone know how I solve the problem (may be a while as I have other problems to handle).  Thanks for all your interest and help.  Best regards, Var