Do these have fan driven smoke?
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No, that is the one thing I don't like about K-line steamers. I don't think it would be hard to add. They are the best buy and one of the best detailed Hudson's around. I don't run mine, it's for display only. Don
Do you really want fan driven smoke with a steam engine? Isn't it suppose to puff with the chuffs?
Originally Posted by Vulcan:
Do you really want fan driven smoke with a steam engine? Isn't it suppose to puff with the chuffs?
Well, yes I do, especially when the electronics turn the fan on and off to match the 4-chuffs per revolution!
To me a fan-driven unit is better than the mechanical puffer in the stock K-Line (and others). We have two early Lionel fan smokers (the Class A and the PRR T1) and both look fine pouring out smoke at speed. Granted, at a crawl its not prototypical but still better than long intervals of no smoke between chuffs!
Heres video( not mine) of one with cruise, smoke is decent for a puffer unit.Of course theres only 2 chuffs per revolution, which is a bigger minus.
I added fan driven chuffing smoke to a K-Line Mikado with the MTH PS1 smoke unit. I'm going to do another one the same way.
Gunnrunner , was the smoke upgrade hard?With err cruse m installed I have heard they are great engines.
I like the Kline puffer smoke units. The only addition I have made to each of them is adding a heavier duty compression spring under the piston. They came from my junk box but I believe they might have come from old ball point pens. You can see I throw nothing out. The light original springs have a tendency to stick and hang up the piston.
In the TMCC units, I boosted the voltage to the coil which adds zest without burnout. Take the power lead, clip it at the board, put a diode in the line and power it from the roller (18V).
In the conventional versions which I finally converted to PS2, I left the KLINE puffer in place, added the spring and used the MTH PS2 board hookup. This way I can turn it on-off and adjust voltage to the coil for low, medium or high volume output.
Also, none of them blow smoke when idle but then start up with huge puffs and then go back to a reasonable rate as speed builds.
We really don't like the smoke so robust that the AC unit carries the odor through the house no matter what flavor it is.
As well, the fan driven units need repair every once in a while. They either start to make a whirrring sound or quit. Fix is to take boiler or diesel shell off, lift off the top of the smoke unit, remove squirrel cage fan, place a drop of oil on the lower bronze pivot and put back together till next time.
That's a nice video Rick - Thanks for posting.
We plan to have our K-Line Hudson converted to PS2 or hopefully PS3 with the MTH smoke unit. This is our third one - the others had TMCC and one had ERR cruise added but I grew dissatisfied with the two chuffs, the weak smoke, and found the whistle somewhat lacking too.
Darn Legacy locomotives spoil you for the earlier units!
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Originally Posted by Lionelzwl2012:
Gunnrunner , was the smoke upgrade hard?With err cruse m installed I have heard they are great engines.
The hardest part is you have to make a bracket to mount the fan driven smoke unit. I also cobbled together a funnel to make it join with the shell better. I have the Cruise Commander M in the unit, makes a huge difference.
John, where did you attach the two wires from the smoke unit? And could a err magnetic reed switch with the magnets be installed to give the engine four chuffs as alex has done on his upgrades?
Originally Posted by Lionelzwl2012:
John, where did you attach the two wires from the smoke unit? And could a err magnetic reed switch with the magnets be installed to give the engine four chuffs as alex has done on his upgrades?
I used an MTH smoke unit, and I powered it directly from track power. I just broke the line from the fan and ran it through the reed switch. No reason you couldn't mount magnets to get 4 chuff's the same way.
I'm actually working on a design of a better way to handle chuffing smoke, but I got sidetracked by the storm and fall cleanup in general.
Thanks john! Ben seeing some for sale and trying to deciding weather to get one. Would like to do the upgrades if I get one. Wish lionel would make a legacy version!!
I concerted my K-line Hudson to PS2 and am totally satisfied. I don`t miss the legacy features, because frankly, I don`t use them much.
As others have said, the K-Line Scale Hudson does not have a fan driven smoke unit, but it is nicely detailed and a good running locomotive. It's one of my favorite Hudsons.
I'd be supprised if Lionel didn't produce the model with Legacy features at some point. Bo 
Visit my website Bo's Trains at http://www.bostrains.com
