I recently had my TMCC N&W 1218 Loco outfitted with Cruise control (Lionel) and an MTH smoke unit. It seems like when I power down the locomotive it turns off the smoke. Is there a command on the remote, to turn back on the smoke when I power up again? The smoke worked fine on the bench...almost too well (fills the bedroom in about 30 seconds), but on the "Command " track, it powers up with no smoke at all.
Lion L
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yes hit 9
No Joy, Rockstars!
would it be this engine -6-28052 -
exactly what board did you have installed ?
Did you change out the smoke resistor?
It's a 1998-2000 vintage TMCC 72-8052-250, N&W 1218 A Class. Lionel Cruise Commander kit, Railsounds large steam ERC, Puff & Chuff board, MTH Smoke w/ CVB, MTH 6Volt dual socket CVB. Not sure about the smoke resistor, but we spoke about it briefly.
When I first placed it on the track, it smoked & chuffed like crazy, everything worked like it should. I ran for a few minutes (10) and shut it down to air out the room 
. Later in the day I returned and it started up as usual, but no smoke, and no chuff. The bell and whistle worked but it seemed like the rest of the sound didn't work. It was almost like operating in the Legacy mode dropped all those features. At this point I'm not sure where I stand?
Suggestions appreciated!
Sorry Moonman....I misspoke. You are right, it is the 6-28052.
Another question I had was... I am assuming this engine pre-dates the "engine module" era? I noticed I didn't have any modules in the box.
You mention the MTH smoke unit. Let's be specific, what resistor did you use? If you left the stock dual 16 ohm resistors, you doubtless took out the smoke triac on the R2LC.
This WAY pre-dates the "module" era, those were for Legacy locomotives, think about seven years later, this is a 2000 engine.
I too am having this issue. I have an EM-1 that was built to run on the Trainmaster Odyssey system and has railsounds. I checked the smoke unit on the bench and both smoke and fan work great. I get everything else to work, the coupler, the lights, the chuff, sound level, direction control, and of course speed functions. I have read several places, including the EM's manual that the smoke function is AUX1-9. I press it and get a voice acknowledgement, but no smoke ever occurs. I even tried via my MTH DCS system and it doesn't work there. I even tried changing from TMCC to CAB-1 on the Odyssey control, which did give me a few more icons for steam locomotives but still no smoke. AUX1-9 just responds with some voice but no smoke.
The exact Lionel product number would be useful here, without that I can just offer generic comments.
Did the smoke ever work?
If this is the model with the smoke regulator, that's the top suspect. If it's using the 27 ohm resistor, the R2LC smoke triac would be where I'd start.
Obviously, you need to verify that stuff like the smoke switch and wiring are intact so that any smoke voltage actually makes it to the smoke unit!
It is the 6-28051. The smoke and fan unit works out of the locomotive on the bench just fine. I tested each independently and both work as they are suppose to. The wiring harness and switch are the only parts left to check. I'll do that tomorrow. I bought it off ebay, it has never worked for me.
Well, since that's a 27 ohm unit, it's driven directly from the R2LC, so I'd be looking at the wiring between the smoke unit, through the smoke switch, and on to the motherboard. If all that looks good and there's no pinched or open wires, try swapping the R2LC.
That gives me something to look at. Thank you.
Would you happen to know which code of R2LC would that be for this locomotive?
R2LC-C08 is what you need. It's by far the most common firmware version.
Thank you.
Finally checked out the harness and the switch as well the connection to the flywheel sensor. All checks good. Found the R2LC-C08 is what is what is in it. Now find a supplier.
Lionel parts has them.
That's where I'm at.. Thank you.
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