This caboose will not smoke unless I let it warm up & then blow in the smokestack; otherwise nothing. Any ideas how I can eliminate this problem?
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I finally got fed-up with the caboose smoke units, so I removed one and used the pick-up rollers to power lighted rear marker lights (from Tomar). Worked out very nicely.
I don't think they are fan driven nor do they have a mechanism to push the smoke out. If you try and use it for any length of time the car side will melt and distort. If you are determined to use it you should at least place some insulation between the smoke unit and the car sides. Using a smaller value resistor to increase the temperature only exacerbates the problem.
These units should have been confined to die cast cabooses.
Pete
I'm not familiar with your caboose, but to address your problem with the postwar #6557 smoking caboose, Lionel put "air scoops" on the frame with openings at both ends, to direct air into the body & up the stack as the car moved.
Originally Posted by Spence:
This caboose will not smoke unless I let it warm up & then blow in the smokestack; otherwise nothing. Any ideas how I can eliminate this problem?
Thank you everyone for your help. Alex M. emailed me with the diagram of this caboose & the parts needed for repair which include new batting & a resistor, which I have ordered. He also recommended putting some insulation in so as to not melt the caboose.
Truthfully, I'd probably invest in a fan driven smoke unit and retrofit it if I really wanted my caboose to smoke. 
Lionel smoking cabooses use a higher Ohm resistor around 52 that just doesn't smoke as well. Because it is all plastic smoke unit a lower Ohm resistor may melt the plastic.
Jim
Originally Posted by Dick Kuehnemund:
I'm not familiar with your caboose, but to address your problem with the postwar #6557 smoking caboose, Lionel put "air scoops" on the frame with openings at both ends, to direct air into the body & up the stack as the car moved.
Originally Posted by Spence:
This caboose will not smoke unless I let it warm up & then blow in the smokestack; otherwise nothing. Any ideas how I can eliminate this problem?
Does it have vents likes the old ones? Any holes in the bottom? If you could blow through a straw into the cabin that might let you know if a tiny radioshack computer fan could get air flowing better. A small hole in the unit or stack below the roofline could increase/create draft too, but hole will weep fluid if too low and or not angled down into the stack. Looks like a fan wouldn't hurt, bashed or bought. The right air intake and aimed right, a fan might even keep it from melting down. None of this is from first hand experience, just grasping at straws for you. Have to test my first post somewhere!
Adriatic; welcome to the forum. Thank you for your response. This caboose was built in 2004. I found it in a little rural train shop in it's original box covered with dust. I should have known after all these years there would be problems but I bought it anyways. I've got new batting & a resistor coming which should help the smoking problem.
This is the result of using a hotter resistor and not adding insulation to the walls. It did improve smoke output though
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Pete
I've had several smoking cabooses with similar damage, which is why I recommend the retrofit if you really need smoke.
