Is a smoke unit the reason you buy something?

Nope, I've taken all the smoke units out of my stuff except the one in my Railking Imperial 0-6-0 and that's because I've had to reason to open it up lately.

I lost my sense of smell a few years back and what little I can smell doesn't smell like it should, most smoke smells pretty nasty to me.  I just hope I can detect it if there's ever a fire!

While I don't mind a little bit of smoke in steam, I HATE smoke in diesels. What a PITA that stuff is. I've had so many problems with smoke units in diesels and the straw that broke the camel's back was when the painted got ruined on a new engine because of the smoke fluid. On the rare occasions I buy a new engine, I usually run the smoke one lap to check functionality then shut if OFF! I've also unplugged or totally removed smoke units in the past as well. 

Hardly. I, more often than not, leave them turned off. If they fail, I typically do not

fix them. If a new loco has it turned on, I'll use it until I have the loco off the track

for some reason, then I'll turn it off if I think of it. 

Smoke is OK, and I like the way NON-scented smoke fluid smells, and it's not really

"smoke" anyway - it's a harmless vaporized light oil.

Model diesel locos smoke WAY too much, especially when modeling modern units; someone needs to go to the rail yards and look. EPA, and all that. 

Steam engine yes, synchronized puffs dazzle the guests for a while, for 4 hours running the guys say "off please" to it. In a diesel wish they would drop it. (As bad as rubber tires!!)

I can take it or leave it.  I used to think it was a big deal, but not so much anymore.  Running twelve trains, if I had all of them smoke at the same time, my room would not be inhabitable for very long.  

I would not buy any engine that does not have a FAN smoke unit in it. At least, I have the option of turning it off and on.....

Nope.  I turn all my smoke units off.

I could care less if something has smoke.

Rusty

I run in the basement with no exhaust fan so I turn them off. I do love the look of a big steam engine belching out thick clouds of smoke but I don't run steam. As far as diesels models go I think they put out more smoke than the real ones. So the answer is no, not a deal breaker.

Dave Ripp

In the beginning smoke was a must have. But one by one the engines developed problems, including partially melting the guts, with the smoke units. Today, I don't use any of my smokers. Many still mint. So no, smoke is not a deal breaker.

Nope, I can't smoke so my trains don't either.

No, I turn off all the smoke units.  Like the looks of the smoke but not the smell.  I only have one steam engine and that helps.

Art

The advantage is it frees up some room and makes things easier when you have to go "under the hood".

If given the choice, I'd rather have a speaker up front in the boiler than a smoke unit.

I have never seen smoke fluid "ruin the paint".  Yes, the smoke fluid mess up the weathering, but does NOT "ruin the paint". Thus, I do NOT turn the smoke units on, in any of my models. Besides, the "fall-out" from the smoke, gets all over the scenery too.

All modern, scale 0 gauge steam engines have smoke units, so I really don't have to make a decision! I do usually run smoke when I am running a steam engine, but I'll shut it off after a while just because keeping it full is a nuisance. On an older engine, I'll buy it if I like it, even if it has a "puffer" type unit. On diesels, I really don't care much. I do run the smoke units sometimes on diesels, but they can be a pain to keep filled, especially on an MU consist where they smoke units will run out of fluid at different rates. 

Bob Delbridge's comment about sense of smell reminded me of something funny from the toy train museum. I don't have much of a sense of smell either, but I used to use the coal scented Mega Steam. When I would run a steam engine at the toy train museum, people were constantly telling me or one of the other members that something must be on fire, they could smell smoke! When I used up that bottle of smoke, I switched to the unscented. The coal smoke scent is quite realistic - and pretty nasty smelling. 

I like to see engines smoke, BUT my train room is so small I would not be able to leave the smokers on for long without needing some oxygen.  Maybe a larger problem I have with engines smoking is the greasy film it leaves on the track.  It is like the track is a magnet attracting this film.  Yes, I clean it off with denatured alcohol, but I rather do almost anything else.  

Want to sell all those smoke units?

I can tell that the folks in this thread are not in the market for any Super-Chuffer units!

I will not buy and engine if it does not have smoke.  My layout is in my garage so if I need some fresh air I just open the doors.  I enjoy the different scents and I think it looks awesome as well.  My layout looks like an old smoggy city!

I don't weather my stuff but the smoke sure did ruin the paint. The cheap plastic "funnel/channel" thing that runs from the stack down into the smoke unit cracked and caused fluid to leak. It was a few days before I realized what happened but once everything was cleaned up, the paint on the shell had been severely discolored and overall screwed up. That was the LAST time I ever used the smoke unit in a diesel. 

For me the simple answer is yes. The only reason I bought my DD35a and the Lindbergh Atlantic engines was because of the smoke features. If they did not have the smoke unit features that they do I would have never bought them.

Not part of the purchasing decision at all for me.

I don't use the smoke in the handful of steam locomotives I have and I certainly would not use it in a diesel. In the real world a smoking diesel is one that is in dire need of mechanical attention.

I never have understood why someone would want a diesel to smoke. But that's just me...

Having only two steam engines on the roster 15 or so engines it's really not an issue. But, inasmuch as the smoke irritates my eyes and nose, i've disconnected the units from both steam engines to prevent them from being turned on by accident.

jackson

I buy engine based on what i like not because it has smoke or not. 

Because I am a big kid that likes toys and toy trains and the smoke is fun. It makes me feel like a kid. Once in a while I see a diesel smoking and I joke with my wife telling here the real ones do smoke!

Of course reality and prototypical operations would likely mean that if a real diesel smoked as much as the toy ones do then the EPA and the CARB here in California would go crazy and that unit would be pulled out of service quickly. Several of us noticed the ex-California diesels in service in Buffalo, NY during out TTOS convention tours. I think the emissions laws have not caught up to California standards.....yet.

I'm on the side of the original poster - smoke is a must have feature and yes, I have either bought something or not mainly because of the smoke unit(s) it has. Actually for me the most realistic smoke feature is in Lionel's Vision Line GE Evo. It comes on only on start up and when the engine is under load - no belching all the time as with the MTH version. However, every steam engine I run has to have maximum smoke effect. 

John, Let me see what I have, maybe a trade (for a LED kit) is in the offering

My last 3 conversions were all Williams so they're Seuth (sp?) units, but I don't have the unit from my Legacy GP9 and possibly 2-3 MTH units.

There's always a deal to be made Bob.

I think smoke units on diesels are absurd.  they just don't correspond to anything you see in real life.  Why not install smurf figurines in your cab if you are going to use white smoke?

However, if I ever run my premier allegheny, I always turn on the smoke to watch the synchronised chuffing.  Since that prototype has been out of use for decades, I have no idea if it is accurate or not.

Are "O" scale Smurf figures available?

And yet all the manufacturers seem to be going that way.

A ways back there was a young lady in our social group who we called Smurfette, I guess she was about 5' 5", so your figures would be close enough for me!

The engines I prefer all come with smoke, so this is not a matter of concern for me. 

Just on steam. But I like a moderate amount. Most times the smokey ones get turned off very quickly.

Factors influencing my engine purchase:

#1. Price

#2. Road name

#3. Engine type (switcher, road engine, diesel, steam)

#4. Overall appearance and detail

#5. Sound - Prefer Proto 3 (very optional)

NOTE: In every way possible mine is a nonsmoking house. (currently at least)

We had a similarly short band director on our faculty who always went ballistic before concerts. We called her the "fidget midget".

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

I most enjoy doing switching with 1st gen diesels ... and I love the smoke.

I have a sensitive schnoz ... so a bit of cross ventilation is a must. Don't run them in a sealed, A/C'd room.

When Lionel comes up with a delivery date for their ALCO switchers, I may cancel my order of Atlas EMD switchers altogether ... just because of the smoke feature.

RogerPete: "You should install a blue LED in the smoke stack of your diesel, that way it looks even more realistically "in dire of mechanical attention"

How cool is that!!! I want that!!