I know this has been talked about before.But do you think they will ever make a darker shade of smoke?I just think that would be really slick if some one managed to pull this off.So what are your thoughts on this supject.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Not going to happen. No way to safely do it.
Originally Posted by seaboard streak:
I know this has been talked about before.But do you think they will ever make a darker shade of smoke?I just think that would be really slick if some one managed to pull this off.So what are your thoughts on this supject.
I think that the smoke fluid residue would probably coat everything. It's bad enough you get the oily film on the engine after a long running session.
Not to mention the possible need for a respirator in the train room!
Has it ever been tried with the older style Lionel pellets ?
It would be neat to see black smoke bellowing out occasionally,but yes it has to be in a safe manner.
Black smoke would indicate combustion. Not a good thing to have indoors (all that carbon monoxide tomfoolery).
Our smoke units operate by vaporization, like miniature fog machines. I don't think you'll ever see those produce anything but the white stuff.
---PCJ
I am not talking about pure black smoke.That would cause smoke detectors to go off.I mean like a darker shade like light brown or maybe gray
I think Railride hit the nail on the head. To get black (or even brown) smoke, you have to have more than just vapor coming out the stack. It will take some unburnt carbon to darken it up... and that will introduce all kinds of problems inside.
Ask me how I know about incomplete combustion... 
Originally Posted by seaboard streak:
I am not talking about pure black smoke.That would cause smoke detectors to go off.I mean like a darker shade like light brown or maybe gray
Color has nothing to do with a smoke detector going off. Every so often the question of colored smoke comes up and the simple answer is, "Ain't gonna happen". Our trains don't smoke they create fog and all fog is white because it diffuses and scatters the light passing thru it and in sufficient volumes it will set off some types of detectors:
Jerry
Originally Posted by seaboard streak:
I am not talking about pure black smoke.That would cause smoke detectors to go off.I mean like a darker shade like light brown or maybe gray
A decade ago when I got my first set of MTH Centipedes with four smoke units I set off all the smoke detectors in the house in short order.
is that a keg in that car behind that engine? I want to be on that train!
On full size oil burning locomotives as used by railroads such as SP and WP here in the west, dark smoke actually is/was the mark of poor firing. Dark smoke is often used in movies or for rail fan photography excursions for the photographic effect, but the better firing is shown by whiter smoke (better combustion of fuel).
John
John
