New Rail King E8, PS3, but no smoke, what gives?

Dave,
Most of my railking stuff diesels anyway don't have smoke.
The ps3 board is just more cost effective for MTH. IT's DCC ready so it'll work with DCC or you can switch it to DCS and power it with A/C . That means MTH only needs one board for HO and O. I don't think PS3 was this great improvement in sound
I think it was more a move to only have to manufacture one board that would fit both scales and that's why you have a board that will run on either D/C or A/C with the flip of a switch.

David

I have been buying various RK RTR sets particular the SD90Ace Husky sets they all have smoke, anyway, it's not a huge thing to me. My first PS3 loco was the German Premier steamer, I think it's sounds are noticeably better than PS2, but I guess only a lab test will show proper results. I will run this loco later this morning and report my thoughts on the sounds. The common PS3 board for all scales and types is clever design. I hope that in the future, they will be easy to get for upgrades.

I might be wrong but it has been my understanding that only Scale Railking Diesels have smoke and RK semi-scale diesels do not.

Doc,
Just bought a railking scale NW-2 switcher no smoke.
didn't see any in this catalog that had smoke unless it was premier
Then if you buy the VO1000 it has smoke.
But hey they didn't offer a switcher in Santa Fe red and silver warbonnet in premier.
I'm happy

David

We have two RK Scale RS3's (no smoke) and one RK RS1 that has smoke. I noticed that the smoke stack is near the cab on the RS1 but near the end of the long hood on the RS3's. Am guessing that has something to do with it?

The sounds on the RS1 are phenomenal!

Dave, the RailKing F-unit and E-unit series diesels have never had smoke units in them.  However, the RailKing Scale F-units have come with the powered A unit having smoke.

I like the sounds on the NW-2. What I didn't like was the cheap speaker that made them, it buzzed all the time. I'd pay 5 bucks more for a better speaker so I didn't have to replace them myself.
Other than that it's one nice engine but hey when you get a Command engine for less than 275 bucks these days I guess you can't have everything ....Smoke being one of them Dave

David

Dave,  I think MTH is already up to about 13 versions of the PS-3 board between HO and O.  One board is definitely not one of the attributes of PS-3.  Even in HO there are several different boards and tender drawbars (a delicate and critical link between the board in the tender and the engine).

There are starter set RK diesels with Smoke.  I think it is specific to various models, but I am surprised a E-8 doesn't have it.  G

It seems the smoke issue is another one of those anomalies we constantly come across in this hobby. The amazingly lucky thing for me with these locos I just received, is even though they are RK and not scale E8's, they are actually the correct length for the NSWGR 42 class I'm turning them into.

I just purchased a RailKing Amtrak starter set.  I didn't think it would have the smoke feature, but it does.  However, it is PS2 and not PS3.  Doesn't matter much to me because I'm not terribly keen on smoking diesels.

Me either. I have an Atlas dash 8 that smokes. If you have the smoke on it just runs all the time and when it puts out smoke it looks like a real one with a blown engine.
If it was hooked to the rev part of the board and momentarily belched a little smoke I'd look okay but I just leave it off most of the time.

David

On the proto type RS 3's the stack was actully down the hood more its prototipical.

I just received my long awaited CP rail version of this engine, it was originally supposed to ship last summer.

Not only was the PS3 a nice surprise, but I was also delighted to find that it has an updated moulding of the shell. I have an original E8 in PS1 Rock Island and it was made with two headlights, which was not prototypical of the CP version. This shell now has a single headlight, along with clearer front door detail and a change to the back detail as well. The moulding seems actually crisper than the old one.

I find the PSA effects are much better sounding and are a bit more realistic in the conversation than older PS2 engines, overall sounds seem to be better as well.

It ran supper smooth and looks fantastic in the “action red” scheme.

A very nice engine!

In the new catalogue the RS3s are now listed as having a smoke unit. I hope this is not a misprint, maybe the new PS3 circuit made room for it.

And the good news, no price increase! The CP action red unit is going on my list.

I just picked up the CP Rail version from from Justrains at York.  A great locomotive at a great price.  I have several other E8's but this one takes the cake with the PS3 and attractive colors. None of them smoke. 

Jim Gress

I may be in the minority here but I personally HATE diesel smoke and this is coming from a "more smoke the better" steam guy! Reason being is that every diesel smoker I have had has leaked, overflowed or caused more problems than what they are worth. One engine, a Railking Scale PRR AS-616 has paint damage caused by a leaking smoke unit. And yes, before anyone asks, the smoke units had all parts, gaskets, etc present and were not filled above the manufacturers specifications as listed in the owners manual. 

As for steam....unless I can't see a foot in front of my face, it ain't smokin' enough!