Christmas Smoke Fluid

Lionel  6-83275 O Sugar Cookie - Scented Smoke Fluid

Hands down the one that smells closest to the real thing when run in a smoke unit.

4.  I agree with Vernon on the Lionel sugar cookie, though.  That would be my number two.

Brendan

1) MTH ProtoSmoke Christmas (kids' favorite)
2) JT Megasteam Cinnamon Roll
3) JT Megasteam Hot Chocolate

@BillYo414 posted:

This Christmas is particularly exciting for me because it's the first time a train will be under the tree in my own place. I'm running an older Lionel 0-4-0 with the puffing smoke unit. I think it's from the 80s. It's not a fan driven smoke unit. I figure it'll be cat-proof

Cat-proof? 

According to the cat ghosts of Christmas Past, you've got no chance. 

My favorite is JT Megasteam Bayberry Holiday, with Christmas Pine a close second.

Merry Christmas!  Enjoy your first train around the tree.

George

@G3750 I'm thinking the die-cast body will at least be immune to cat-destruction. At least I hope! That's mainly what I meant. There won't be any scenery for the Catzilla to destroy but I suspect rolling stock will be prone to coming off the tracks.

Thanks for the votes so far!

If you were told no tree scents then you should take MTH Christmas off your list. It's a pine Christmas tree  smell like a Frasier Fir or Balsam and my favorite.

Brad

I would either go Hot Chocolate or Sugar Cookie.  I know the Sugar Cookie is pretty good.  When I helped out at the LHS, when ever you got near the smoke fluid that's all you could smell.

I would go with JT Megasteam beer or moonshine

What did Tom Hanks sing, hot, hot, hot, hot chocolate...

@bluelinec4 posted:

I would go with JT Megasteam beer or moonshine

I think he wants this for his locomotives not to drink.  LOL!

@MartyE @bluelinec4 I don't want the beer scent unless it perfectly replicates the way bowling alleys smelled when I was kid haha that would get me nostalgic as heck. It was mostly beer, cigarettes, and shoe deoderizer. Hint of rubbing alcohol!

But yeah, probably not the Christmas feel I'm going for. It's looking like Hot Chocolate and Bayberry is going to be the pick for this year. I also like the tree scents (balsam, especially) but I'm not picky. I'm just pumped to start this tradition. I'm headed to the bar right after work to treat my aching shoulder and meet up with some out of town friends, then it's back home to get the track screwed to the plywood so we can start on the tree this weekend

I appreciate everyone's comments. The internet has provided us with so much info on sight and sound but it doesn't transmit any smells haha

@BillYo414 posted:

This Christmas is particularly exciting for me because it's the first time a train will be under the tree in my own place. I'm running an older Lionel 0-4-0 with the puffing smoke unit. I think it's from the 80s. It's not a fan driven smoke unit. I figure it'll be cat-proof

The choices below include the finalists that got approved for scented smoke in the living room. I was hoping you guys could vote and help me buy one scent instead of buying them all so I can try them.

1. Lionel Hot Chocolate
2. Lionel Winter Wonderland
3. MTH Christmas Protosmoke
4. JT Megasteam Hot Chocolate
5. JT Megasteam X-mas Berry
6. JT Megasteam Bayberry Holiday
7. JT Megasteam Cinnamon Roll

I was told no tree scents. I dig pine usually but that's ok. I'm just happy to have a train under the tree. The "Winter Wonderland" and "Christmas" scents are mysterious to me so any thoughts on what they smell like would be appreciated.

Let me know what you think!

I’ve been running J.T’s Mega Steam Cinnamon Roll for 19 years .  It  gives off a smell unlike no other ! As for the cats ? I let mine start playing around them , and when they least expect it , BAM fire up that 0-4-0 and they’ll scatter! Plus , they don’t like the smoke ( well mine), @ least 😂😂😂🚂🚂🚂. Hope that helps & Happy Thanksgiving!

They can be annoying when trying to work on layouts .

@redbarchetta81 like the good warm baking cinnamon roll smell? I wasn't sure if it would just be like a sweet cinnamon smell or what.

Yeah haha the cats have not been friendly towards the layout but I'll take care of that in time I'll see what they think of this once I get up and running! It should be entertaining at any rate haha

Yes!! It’ll smell good and cinnamony!!

On the way !!🚂🚂🚂

The only scent for me is American Flyer cedar what I have used for seventy PLUS years.

Gunny

Yes Sir Gunny, that’s my favorite also. That smell really brings back the child in me.

I like the Cinnamon Roll. Using the last of it now.

Just to follow up, I wandered into a local hardware store that still sells model railroad stuff and found JT Megasteam smoke fluid. They had X-mas Berry, Bayberry, and Hot Chocolate. I bought all three and a 2023 boxcar. I came home and found the Christmas Pine scent in a box under the layout while I was digging out the train.

The winner is Hot Chocolate! Christmas Pine came in a close second though. She digs it but we both like hot chocolate quite a bit. I would like to try Cinnamon Roll. I think I'll buy some next time I restock NADA scent.

Also, the cats don't mess with the train! It's just on a little loop under the tree but they don't bother it. They actually sit on the arm rest and watch it from the other side of the room. I've used the train to flush them out from under the tree too. One of them tried to climb the tree but the branch started to sag under her weight. She hasn't tried to climb it since

I love the coal fired, oil fired, and diesel scents I use in the basement. The diesel reminds me so much of the foundry and the coal fired reminds me of my time around steam traction engines. But having this special scent for this time of year really puts a smile on our faces! Thanks for all the suggestions and enjoy the season!

You're lucky cat wise.  

We had a cat that would wait for the train to pass,  bound into the layout proper and steal Plasticville farm implements from the farm display.  We would find the unharmed plows, tractors, and other farm gear (but never any of the farm animals) scattered around the house unharmed except for cat spit.

It must have been some crazy game of chicken between the cat and the train under the Christmas tree.

A few years ago, I participated in a Holiday Train Show in our small NJ town. My layout was L-shaped with a holiday village on one end and a large Candy Land (board) on the other, complete with Starburst candy path. The corner connecting both areas was a factory area (Hershey?). I ran a freight with about 23 CANDY THEMED billboard reefers and tanker cars. I used the Hot Chocolate and the Vanilla smoke which created such surprise and joy among the viewers, they actually couldn't figure it out and thought that my chocolate swamp was real chocolate. Well, the Kisses were. Enjoy your under the tree layout, I will be working on mine next week. My granddaughter helped build and run so of course I had to add some of her Disney Pez Princesses but the girls loved them!

Mikki

I run the Lionel Hot Chocolate in both my Christmas trains that go under two of our trees and I am pretty happy.  My wife is pretty picky on the scents but that one was approved.

I do feel fortunate @Former Member. I was worried I wouldn't get to have a tree or train because of the cats.

That's pretty awesome! @Mikki Does your town just have an assembly of small layouts? or were you asking to build the layout?

I want to get the Lionel Hot Chocolate @Raptor Rails just to compare.

@BillYo414 posted:

I do feel fortunate @Former Member. I was worried I wouldn't get to have a tree or train because of the cats.

That's pretty awesome! @Mikki Does your town just have an assembly of small layouts? or were you asking to build the layout?

I want to get the Lionel Hot Chocolate @Raptor Rails just to compare.

Thank you!

The gentlemen (two former town commissioners) who started the show had the large second floor (the old court room) of our old restored 1800s city hall. One layout was huge in the center of the room with multiple levels and very large locomotives but no landscaping/scenery etc. His wife also had two layouts of about 4x8. The other was an HO layout and of course a Thomas the Train for the little ones.  I was in a smaller space on the first floor with my L shaped layout, each leg 12' long by appr 5' deep. I also had a smaller layout representing our one square mile historic town in the mid 1800s when the John Bull took its first ride along what would become the Camden & Amboy RR. It became a lesson for the school kids that came through on class trips. I shared the first floor with an HO modular group. Across the street in the firehouse was a Garden Railway group from PA. Basically, there was something for everyone as a holiday show should be!

Mikki

Nothing smells more Christmassy than original Lionel smoke pellets. Someone should produce smoke fluid that brings back that nostalgic scent. And while we are at it, how about a Legacy option of a throw back sound of a post war whistle!  Is there anyone on this site that wouldn't love that combo.  Merry Christmas!     

MegaSteam makes a Smoke Pellet scent.

https://megasteam.com/

@Conductor Earl posted:

Nothing smells more Christmassy than original Lionel smoke pellets. Someone should produce smoke fluid that brings back that nostalgic scent. And while we are at it, how about a Legacy option of a throw back sound of a post war whistle!  Is there anyone on this site that wouldn't love that combo.  Merry Christmas!     

Mega Steam already does make a smoke pellet scent.  Is it Lionel smoke pellet scent?

I have no idea.

Mega Steam also makes a Christmas scent sampler 6 pack for those undecided.

@Mikki that's pretty awesome! I would love to do something like that here. Maybe one day!

Former Member posted:

Mega Steam also makes a Christmas scent sampler 6 pack for those undecided.

Former Member? That's odd.

Anyway, I ordered one of these 6 packs from MrMuffins yesterday. Hopefully will have it soon.

Brad

The 6 pack Christmas set has Christmas Pine, Bayberry Holiday, Candy Cane Express, Gingerbread, Hot Chocolate and X-mas Berry (Mulberry and Cranberry with a great woodsy Balsam edge to it). They are 1 ounce bottles.

Brad

@BillYo414

Your discussion of the cat brings up a memory. As a kid I had my track set up on my bedroom floor. The only scenery was a styrofoam tunnel. One day I plugged in my transformer and started running my only engine, a 1666. The train entered the tunnel, and it looked like the tunnel exploded and flew into the air, while the cat ran out the other end, after knocking the engine off the track. How was I to know it was a good place for a nap?

I run JT's Hot Chocolate in my Polar Express trains and go through almost a big bottle a season.  We get 1k-3k people through our layout a night and when I am running, I always overhear people talking about smelling chocolate, and most of them eventually realize it is coming from the Polar Express.   One night a fellow club member was running Candy Cane scent and when our trains passed, it smelled like mint chocolate.   The only problem I have ever had running JT's Hot Chocolate was that it has prompted me on many occasions to go out into the park and get myself a cup of hot chocolate... or two...

Several of my fellow club members like to run prototypical scents in their locomotives, but the general public does not recognize those scents and just think they stink.  I had one person ask me why the "little" steam engine (my scale PE) smelled good while the "big" steam engine (a Big Boy) smelled bad.

Andy