Is the smoke effect good on a Lionel hot box reefer? Is it a fan driven smoke unit?
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I'm not sure about the smoke part,but the sound is horrendous:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEJLKZhhE0A
Once it heats up, lots of smoke. (and RickO is correct, it does make a lot of noise.) A great crowd pleaser.
I don't believe it is fan driven, it's been a while since I last used it (over 6 yrs ago). I do not have a layout yet. But when I last used it, which was 900+ sq ft public display that I designed. It had day / night lighting and we had visitors coming up to us and telling us that one of our trains was on fire. I do like it's effect.
In this video you see the fire and hear it, I was paying more attention to videoing the 60 car train and it may have been low on smoke fluid. It's the last reefer about halfway into the train.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...=36&feature=plcp
It smokes very well. Don't own one but have had the "pleasure" (not!) to experience them more times than I care to.
No fan but enough smoke, easy to see. The sound quit on mine, darn it, I liked sneaking it into other guys trains.
Mine smokes pretty good and a little light (LED) flickers which makes a nice effect. The smoke just wafts from underneath and out from the car, it isn't fan driven. This car provides fun that will last a lunch time. The hot box screech will eventually drive most folks up a wall. It's up there with fingernails scratching a blackboard. I'd only recommend it if you purchase one for the price of a basic 6464 style car. It sounds pretty good if you turn the sound off. I hope this doesn't sound too negative.
Stack
The ones I have seen put out a lot of smoke that isn't fan driven. Some have put an on and off switch in them for activation by TMCC; I think this is a good idea then you could have it do it's think at different intervals or not have to stop the train to turn it off. I had my eye on one to purchase and I would have converted mine this way, and will if I ever get one.
Redball
Price around $59. Reaction from my neighbor seeing it on fire priceless.
Yes the screech can be annoying, but can be turned off. On the bad side is that I have heard from some that the smoke filling tube inside the car can melt.
The volumn of smoke is very good, it starts to make its noise and
snoke a little then the noise gets louder. When you stop the train,
the smoke just rolls out. There is a fan in the smoke unit. It is one
of the best operating cars because it is so realistic. Adding a
tmcc control board from ElectricRR so you can control the operation
at any time or place.
Its a really cool operating car. You just cut it off when you've had enough. A keeper. There is a fan just not real powerful.
Liam,
Mine works fine now after I did some mechanical & electrical repairs to get it working right. It is equipped with a smoke unit and fan that work just like Lionel's (and MTH's) steam engines. It takes time for the smoke to come up to full volume.
I believe Lionel cleared out inventory due to problems (bought mine in '09 for $40).
Check out Lionel's site for a manual that describes the lengthy sequence of crew chatter and the hot box lights/sounds.
You'll find a few YouTube clips showing it in operation.
Tom
Lots of smoke, but annoying sounds, but you can turn them off.
Very Neat! My Grandson will love it! Got to look, hope they are still available!
Dennis
Piscataway, NJ
I had mine converted to TMCC with the ERR kit. It works well and when combined with the cattle car, it is my grandchildren favorite consists.
I liked the idea but the roller bearing trucks killed it for me. 
