Originally Posted by Prewar Pappy:
Personally, I would not "coax" it do do anything. If anything at all, disconnect the smoke unit and wire the light direct. I've seen these early cabeese partly melted by a working smoke unit. Do what you want after all it's yours. I do not feel that there was any misrepresentation. It is a postwar item. Honestly, I feel that you're expecting too much from something so old.
The seller stated that it worked and was functional - that set my expectations (and was a requirement as I was looking for an operational example). Just to be clear, I'm not whining about weak smoke - there IS no smoke.
Originally Posted by Chuck Sartor:
A few issues here. #1, wrong bulb. You need a 6 volt #55. That is a requirement.
#2, wrong fluid. The 'thin' smoke fluid won't work very well. You need a thicker viscosity fluid. Lionel's is better. Old Lionel, American Flyer or Marx fluid works the best. The instruction sheet even says not much will be noticed while the caboose is in motion.
As a personal note, I have rewired several 6557's so the smoke unit gets full track voltage and they smoke much better and no overheating issues have developed.
But not recommended for command control.
Chuck,
I'm glad to hear that the 1445 is the wrong bulb. It gave me hope that I could make this work. Even better, you stated that you have successfully run these on track voltage. So I took the caboose sans the shell and placed it on my siding again. I removed the bulb and jumpered the center rail to the heating element lead closest to the bulb. I then looked down to my ZW to carefully set the voltage to a seemingly nominal 12 volts. By the time I looked up from setting the voltage, smoke was pouring out from the bottom and top of the smoke unit. My first thought was that I had release the smoke that mysteriously makes electronics work, but it smelled like Vanilla! I quickly did the math and turned the voltage as low as it could go (~6VAC) and the caboose smoked good at that voltage!
Originally Posted by Überstationmeister:
Mine smokes relatively well at 12-14V and Lionel 909 fluid, even at speed. Like Chuck said, a 55 lamp is essential. See if you can find a "real" 55 lamp i.e. GE or Sylvania at an auto parts store. I have noticed a difference in smoke quality since I changed the Chinese bulb that mine came with.
Station Master, Based on my findings, I cannot wait to stop by the auto parts store and pay a pretty penny for a pair of #55 bulbs. I hope to install one and hopefully replicate today's smoky results at 14VAC.
This is why forums with members of this golden caliber are amazing!
