LIONEL SMOKING CABOOSES.

Please provide model #'s.  I know some (maybe all?) Lionel cabooses don't have fans. 

No fan driven units in them.

GRJ has put some fan driven units in some. I believe they may be MTH HO scale fan driven units from what I've read on this forum.

This was a big question I had at one point as well.

I suggest using the search function and you will find tons of information on these from older posts.

Brad

@usmarkie posted:

I have 3 Lionel smoking cabooses. The smoke portion does not work very well. What can I do to enhance the smoke production.

I also have a K-Line smoking Pennsylvania Caboose- I learned that they are made for side spur scenes with separate voltage track with an added higher voltage of up to 18 volts or so... when you run with trains on your layout track at the normal 10-13 it smokes very little & looks like its broken- People have also said that if you run them at higher voltage for long periods of time the roofs warp & some have even melted!- A lesson learned from my TMB train club in Farmingdale, L.I.  (Im also fairly new to the hobby & have learned a lot from their knowledge...)Good luck!

No  fans these cabooses,,,, I have a Lionel chief plus engine with a fan and the smoke blows out.   I did try that powered siding track, the caboose did sort of smoke, but not like the MTH caboose.

Smoke should waft from a caboose stack. No reason to have a fan motor if your being reaistic.

I agree with NYC Fan, Fan motor not needed, (even if your not being realistic) .  I have a few Lionel smoking cabooses, they smoke fine, never had a roof warp or melt. If you're running in a command environment , then  the voltage can be increased and the smoke output will be fine (not sure what a long period of time is).  Conventional might not have as much smoke output.

This is my experience with smoking cabooses, I did not search info from older posts about this.  

Realistic is one thing, however by the time you get decent smoke with the stock K-Line smoke unit, it's melting the side or roof of the caboose!

You don't want a honkin' steamer full size smoke unit for these, but the small MTH HO smoke unit works well.  Drop the voltage to the fan to a couple of volts for slow airflow, and then adjust the smoke heater resistor for optimum smoke.  The bonus is that the fan driven smoke unit doesn't get nearly as hot and it's easy to avoid melting the caboose shell.

Thanks,  Mr. gunrunnerjohn, I 'll work on it. You wouldn't to happen to have any with the resistors already installed do you?

Nope, I done three or four of these, but I modify them when I need them as I use the smoke units in various applications.

ok, do the smoke units have a part number?  some vender?

MTH AA-1600000 is the one I use.  Most of the smoke units listed at MTH are out of stock right now.  I don't know if it's just because they haven't been inventoried or they really don't have them.

Sitting on a siding seems to be the best idea. I think coffee scent would be the thing. However I have seen many a nice caboose ruined by a hot smoke unit so I don't turn them on.

Yep, I've seen a few melted cabooses as well!

I have the Kline and it made a reasonable amount of smoke. I just picked up an MPC era Lionel. The resistor was burned nearly in half. And there was no wadding, which I thought was odd, just a little well to hold the smoke liquid. It is back at the shop I bought it from getting repaired.

I concur that it should not bellow smoke. The pictures I've seen and the couple 0f caboose(s) I've been in it was a pot bellied stove usually running on coal, well, back in the steam days, they used for heat and cooking. Not exactly an Allegheny crawling over the mountains with a mile long drag of loaded coal hoppers. I would think that as they changed over to diesel they changed their fuel to wood. At least until the caboose(s) got updated, but that may have not happened much before they went away.

My caboose uses a device similar to the engines. One of the trucks has a little device that rotates when it's moving attached to an arm doing the same kind of bellows action. I guess I will see when it gets back.

Frank

I have a brand new in the box kline smoking caboose I picked up cheap in box. It's from 1993 so I'm afraid to run it as it is not designed for command at 18v. It does not have the conv/com switch on it so it will not have smoke turned on.

I do have a lionel smoking caboose from one of the last years they made them (2014-2016?).

I've never put smoke fluid in it but would like to. It should be safe from the melt down effect that the older models have. I would like to test the smoke unit but the stack does not line up with the smoke bowl without a needle applicator.

I sure hate it for those that put smoke fluid directly in the stack. There is no telling where all that fluid went because it didn't go in the bowl.

The bowl is in the center of the body of the caboose but the stack is to one side with no funnel to direct the fluid.

By design it appears it will just fill the interior up with smoke until it makes its way to the stack outlet. Almost seems something is missing, not sure.

I'm just holding out to put fluid in it until I hear a good idea other than "Don't use the smoke unit".

I would like to try it some day.

Brad