City Steam

I have thought of that, too.  I thinkany old smoke unit located (safely, with thermal insulation) under the layout beneath where you want the 'steam' would do the trick.  You could wire it to 14-18V to really cook a good stream or back it off for less.  

The steam lines still pour out in NYC in the winter. Usually they add striped whote and Orange portable chimneys to get the steam above the traffic so you have to drive around them but it it safer than obscured vision. If I modeld this I would include the chimney.

For your lake effects, I recall some kind of gizmo that used dry ice. A G-gauge modeler (Furlow?) used it to fill the valleys on his layout.

I do what Leigh line did- get a water mister and direct the "smoke exhaust" come up through the manhole covers.

Along the same vein, has anyone tried to add steam to the underside of a passenger train while stopped at a station. Smoke ports placed every 18 inches or so would create a nice image. I thought of this while watching original Thomas the Tank Engine shows.

 

On the city steam story, Scranton PA's central heat facility is being demolished as I write this. When I was a lad the Erie delivered coal there several times a week. It converted to oil maybe 30 years ago. 

Earl       

That's a real good idea!  Water mist rather than cooked oil steam fluid. And no smoke fluid scent. 

Wilkes -Barre PA had steam heat in the downtown. The roads and sidewalks were nearly snow free from the vented steam. The steam plant is long gone. I was stationed at several Air Force bases that heated with steam. Plattsburg Air Force base in New York had both above and under ground lines. I was sent there in October and November to install an above ground line. I froze my tail off! It was already below zero in October. 

Are there any small fog machines made? These are cool, but the ones I've used put out a lot of smoke, probably way too much for a layout, unless it was piped around to several locations. Most could possibly be vented off.

Don

Water mist dispersed on and around an electric train layout.

 

Uh.

 

That's OK, because this thread will lead to yet another "How do I clean/get the rust off

my track?" topic, and/or "Why am I getting shorts/voltage drops?".

 

 

Not if you are using Atlas o track or stainless steel track.

For safety sake please do not use dry ice indoors!

 

Dry ice is frozen C02 and becomes gaseous CO2.  You see the cooled vapor that forms as part of the process.  The C02 produced can be overpowering in a small or unventilated space.  THIS CAN KILL YOU DUE TO OXYGEN DEPRIVATION!! 

 

A facility I used to work for nearly had a fatality because someone went to pick up dry ice for an industrial task and put the cooler in the trunk of a car instead of the back of a truck.  She nearly crashed because she was becoming disoriented.

 

Dry Ice is useful and can be fun, but is not for indoor use with toys!!

I wonder if our in house "Prop Master" Katrina could throw something into the mix for you.

You would likely at least have to post to her thread. She is not a forum reader really, but always seems to respond. If she could help, I think she would.

There are small smoke machines for bars, and small theater use.

Some of those use dry ice.

I've used it in theater work on stage, and from the catwalk. Never had an issue.

 I don't see someone doing dry ice every session, but that is a valid warning. Ventilate.

Last Sept an older lady in Georgia died in a McD's restroom due to a soda co2 line leak in the wall.

 But a theater or auditorium isn't a closed up space or a submarine. Ventilate.

 

 

Great point!  I can see how this could be an issue with say Lionel or gargraves or Ross tubular.  In my case, however, the mist would be nowhere near any tracks. And I am using Atlas O nickel-silver so moot in any event. 

 

Wouldn't use use dry ice either. It's my basement (and I'd like a sustained safe method) not a movie set. Lol. 

 

So, are there really any other options?  I can use a smoke machine that disburses more cooked smoke fluid, or maybe a mister.  The mister could affect the buildings, street Masonite, glued down foliage and paint over time.  

 

Peter

I have no idea how large or small your layout is. Lakes and valleys and all.

I suppose a liquid nitrogen lake is out of the question 

 

Most modern units run on glycerin based fluids.

There are some hand held smoke units too.

But if you don't need a lot of smoke, train units are enough.

I have used water misters in a large Christmas train layout in the past. I used them in a small Halloween setup to give the fog appearance from part of our real water lake. It give a good appearance but it does make somewhat of a mess with the water. Please take in consideration that this display was open and operating 8 hours a day for 30 days. So the 250+ hours of these producing the mist is well over the hours that they would be used in a home layout. The mist did not interfere with the operation of the train display in any way. 

 

It did saturate the plywood near the edge of the real water lake and it did turn green from the ground covering that was on top of the plywood. But we replace the plywood yearly anyway.

 

Here are some photos of that display. 

In photo below you can see the fog to the rear of the Halloween buildings.

Below you can see the fog coming through under the operating highway meeting the 2 waterfalls one on each side of the lake.

 

 

Here you can see under the highway with the foggers turned off. The lake about 40" x 80" in size.

Here is a close up of the fog from the opposite side of the Halloween buildings. The misters we used have built in orange lights that add to the effect.

This is what it looked like from behind the Halloween buildings.

Another view from the Halloween building side.

A close up of the misters in action.

Another view from the opposite side.

Close up from the building side, this display was 18' x 44' in size with 5 different levels with trains on 4 different levels, 16 separate tracks operating 16 MTH trains on those tracks. The longest track is about 120' long which crosses over 2 different bridges one is 8' long and another is 12' long. Over 60 Department 56 buildings 2 - 12 foot long real water waterfalls and over 200 animated items will be in the display.

I would use a postwar Lionel pellet smoke unit (which can use a few drops of fluid without the conversion). On the right voltage, they will smoke well enough for this, and they won't burn up if you forget to fill them.

When you get the steam grates set up, the next thing you need is a bunch of homeless guys sleeping on them to keep from freezing. 

 

I took this today on the Upper West Side. Thinking of this post. Steam is still going June 1st.

GOOD ADVICE !!!

Being aware here is the real issue. It may, or may not be the answer for anyone.

 Our smoke units can catch on fire but we use them.

Water is dangerous to, we use it every day.

"C02" is safe too, if used with care, and common sense.

Ever have a soda pop? That's co2.

How much, how often is the key.

A small ice cube or two isn't likely to cause issue without breathing it right off the cubes.

You can make small blocks easy at home..

 

Another safety note, it mostly drops when it comes off dry ice as a gas.

Will your basement or room fill with it? or slip under the door?

  Because it will also put out flames.

Water heater Pilot lights have flame.

 You can drown in almost any gas or liquid.

Learn how to properly handle it and it may become safe.