Wouldnt It be nice if someone would make a vicks vaporub type smoke fluid that would actually help you to breathe as the train puffed along??
You are kidding-right?
Joe
Looking at the OP name I'd say he's dead serious lol
Some decades ago I rigged an old-style vaporizer with Va-po-rub, to help my daughter's breathing. It made a barely visible plume, quickly dissipated, and didn't seem to help my daughter much.
After a few days I noticed that the wall paint was getting discolored. At that point my wife (literally) pulled the plug.
Somehow I don't see this as a good idea for model smokeolotives. Of course, I don't own anything with a smoke generator - and wouldn't use it if I did.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with smokeless steam)
I'm very happy to keep the smoke and the sound in my imagination......
Sheldon
Just kidding guys I have smoke in my steamers but I keep it turned off unless I have company .
I have to have smoke and sound anytime I run my steam engines. No older steam engines run on my layout. Must have at least sound or it stays on the shelf or on the list to be sold.
David you must have a large well ventilated train room,after an hour I have to turn the air conditioner on high.
I have to say that HO scale smoke effects totally turn me off (and adding in the smell of Vicks Vapor Rub wouldn't change my opinion!).
Seriously, I know this is a very personal thing and I am not critizing those of you who do like the effect, but to me it is sadly lacking in realism. Even worse IMHO were the recent attempts by a manufacturer to offer diesel smoke. White, whispy, thin trails of smoke coming from a diesel - please, spare me the torture! The effect is bad enough coming from a steamer where white 'smoke' actually occurred, but even then, none of the HO smoke units that I have seen can produce an adequate plume of smoke like the prototypes did. Not even close.
Just to prove how fussy I am, I have seen videos of larger scale locomotives which were capable of producing decent volumes of smoke, and I have to admit that I enjoyed watching them.
Maybe someday someone will invent an HO scale smoke unit that looks realistic. That would be great. However, we would all have to install some pretty hefty exhaust ventilation systems in our train rooms so we could still see what we were doing after the first few minutes of spewing said volume of smoke.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Roco´s DB class 10 Pacific features "Dynamic Smoke", which was designed for scale 1 steam locos and has been scaled down to fit HO scale locos.
To me, this looks as realistic as you can get in that small a scale:
Here is a short video of a scale 1 DB class 44 Decapod with "Dynamic Smoke"
Some time ago, I had the "pleasure" of watching it during a train show. While I was really impressed by this feature, I had to leave the place after a few moments, as I started to have respiratory problems.
I'm not sure if it's a Health Department mandate or voluntary, but train shows in Tucson, Arizona, have banned the use of smoke on display layouts.
I suspect that complaints from show attendees about the smell, breathing difficulties, and eye irritation may have had an impact, too.
The last show I attended that allowed smoke was in a fairly small facility where the smoke was so thick it was like walking into a fog. I immediately asked for a refund and left.
Interesting Info. guys, thanks . May God Bless.
Ulrich, it isn't something I have researched a lot, nor have I gone on youtube to find out the 'best smoke effects' in any scale, but that one is really quite good. It is far more convincing than anything I have seen on this side of the Pond. If they could find a way to make the smoke more grey, or even darker, it would be even more realistic. Still, I would give that Roco a B+, and it merits an A- with the cyclinder cock issue. MTH/BLI a C.
selector Ulrich, it isn't something I have researched a lot, nor have I gone on youtube to find out the 'best smoke effects' in any scale, but that one is really quite good. It is far more convincing than anything I have seen on this side of the Pond. If they could find a way to make the smoke more grey, or even darker, it would be even more realistic. Still, I would give that Roco a B+, and it merits an A- with the cyclinder cock issue. MTH/BLI a C.
I have my doubts that this will ever be achieved. After all, the black smoke comes from cinders, ash, coal dust and other "impurities" in the flues. How to sumulate that w/o imposing a health hazard?
I think we will see more improvements coming. KM 1 has recently introduced steam coming from the whistle when blown - looks nice!
An outfit called JT's Mega-Smoke sells smoke fluid in a variety of "scents", usually at train shows. If you want authentic effects you can get coal or oil smoke. If you want something a little more inviting you can get a large variety of fruit and spice flavors like raspberry, vanilla, cinnamon bun or orange blossom, for example. The smoke output is pretty good and it smells much better than the traditional stuff that, admittedly, would gag a rhino.
Coal, ash, smoke. No asbestos? Amateurs!
Just kidding. I think the smoke looks cool but I don't want it in my basement- maybe I'd do it in YOUR basement, but not mine. If I had a garden railroad I'd look into the dynamic smoke. That's pretty cool looking.
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