Smoke

No.

Best to use an actual model train fluid such as Lionel, MTH, JT's Megasteam, etc. 

No. A bottle of smoke fluid isn’t that expensive and it’s developed to work in smoke units. 

Pro Tip: As a general rule, you don’t want to put something designed to burn in your trains...

Jon

Lamp oil is basically kerosene.  It has a flash point between 100 and 150F.  The flash point is the lowest temperature at which a volatile vapor will ignite.  Smoke fluid is, primarily mineral oil, which has a flash point around 335F.  This is why you see vapor (smoke) long before you would see any any flame.

To paraphrase Jon, unless your objective is a Gomez Adams layout holocaust, stay far away from flammable liquids.  Stick with smoke fluid designed for trains.

Ray H posted:

I have a variety of steamers ranging from post-war AF and Lionel to Rail Sounds, QSI and PS2. Will Ultra Pure lamp oil work as a safe replacement for smoke fluid? Thanks,

So, you own thousands of dollars worth of trains, and you want to save a few dollars on smoke fluid?!?!?

Thanks all.

I posted the question because I did hear of such a substitution possibility a couple of years ago, and it's not a matter of $, but of scents. I prefer do do my shopping at hobby stores (or train shows!) but most of the availability of bottled smoke in the past year has been for the smelly stuff and I don't want the train room smelling like Christmas trees, chocolate chip cookies or cedar closets. I did manage to find one bottle of Anthracite coal scent and that has the room smelling like a roundhouse - and I like it - but it's not to be found in the very few stores we have  here in Maine. And I don't need the Ultra Pure for lamps because I have a 20KW back-up generator for power outages. Thanks again, I'll go with the bottled stuff, for sure.

Don't like the scented fluids, go with Mega-Steam's........

• NADA!!!- (99% scent free for those with a preference for no scent)

Why would anyone want to use something for smoke fluid that wasn't, you know, smoke fluid?

I second the JT's NADA suggestion! :-)

Whats going on around here?We have people wanting to use olive oil to lubricate locomotives, kerosine for smoke fluid.Use what the MFG calls for...there is your answer for all future non sense.Just sayin Nick

Nick: just saying you are SO RIGHT! Why risk damaging your valuable trains or home, not to mention your LIFE!

 I'm not suggesting to do so, and I can't recall which pre or post war mfg. it was, but I recently spotted instruction for using mineral oil as smoke fluid in some old literature. I think it was A.F.. 

  I keep unscented pharmaceutical grade mineral oil for my old wood floors, cutting boards, knife handles, and wooden spoons, but have not experimented on any of my old beaters yet. (it nourishes the wood after a trip in the dishwasher's chlorine, restoring color, and helps food from sticking while in use too)

 Some tiny battery op toy trains and toyish G scale warned against mineral oil and smoke fluids, but called for a mixture of common vegetable oil and distilled water instead. (I can't recall the ratio, mostly water though) To my surprise it worked very well and only smelled like fries with a dirrect wiff of the stack. The elements were a single thin thread of nicrome 1/4-1/2" long in a well. The tiny ones used 1.5v (AA)

If you must experiment, maybe try those.

I have been using CVS baby oil for several years. It is very inexpensive, and I use it to dilute train smoke fluids having scents that I like.

Hot Water posted:

Ray H posted:

I have a variety of steamers ranging from post-war AF and Lionel to Rail Sounds, QSI and PS2. Will Ultra Pure lamp oil work as a safe replacement for smoke fluid? Thanks,

So, you own thousands of dollars worth of trains, and you want to save a few dollars on smoke fluid?!?!?

This always cracks me up....guys that don't blink about spending $1K on an engine but don't want to spend a few bucks on smoke fluid

SJC posted:

Hot Water posted:

Ray H posted:

I have a variety of steamers ranging from post-war AF and Lionel to Rail Sounds, QSI and PS2. Will Ultra Pure lamp oil work as a safe replacement for smoke fluid? Thanks,

So, you own thousands of dollars worth of trains, and you want to save a few dollars on smoke fluid?!?!?

This always cracks me up....guys that don't blink about spending $1K on an engine but don't want to spend a few bucks on smoke fluid

Except in this case it was a false assumption.  The original poster said it wasn't a matter of money, but rather scent.  Danr and 

 gave the best answers.

JeffPo posted:

SJC posted:

Hot Water posted:

Ray H posted:

I have a variety of steamers ranging from post-war AF and Lionel to Rail Sounds, QSI and PS2. Will Ultra Pure lamp oil work as a safe replacement for smoke fluid? Thanks,

So, you own thousands of dollars worth of trains, and you want to save a few dollars on smoke fluid?!?!?

This always cracks me up....guys that don't blink about spending $1K on an engine but don't want to spend a few bucks on smoke fluid

Except in this case it was a false assumption.  The original poster said it wasn't a matter of money, but rather scent.  Danr and 

NJCJOE

 gave the best answers.

I'm well aware of it - and was when posting - however I see this A LOT and it is usually from the same suspects running $1K+ locos around. 

When I was involved in the modular club, I offered to find a restaurant that was reasonably priced, convenient to highways, etc. for the monthly business meeting. I found one, came back and said it is available on X date. Cost per person for a full, 5 course dinner for 30 guys would be about $15 per person with each paying their share. Several proclaimed how that was "pricey" and we shouldn't go. To me, that was reasonably priced but the same group of people ****ing and moaning about a $15 - GOOD - dinner were all the ones running the biggest and best Legacy/Vision Line/PS3/PS2/MTH/Lionel/Whatever engines and seemingly buying them on a weekly basis. 

Bobby Ogage posted:

I have been using CVS baby oil for several years. It is very inexpensive, and I use it to dilute train smoke fluids having scents that I like.

That is basically scented mineral oil.

An unscented and food safe version is at most pharmacys.

SJC , So that kinda explains why I'm a tad overweight and run a lot of crappy trains!

Thanks, everyone, for responding to my inquiry. I appreciate the safety warnings (always important) and the specific product recommendation. And thank you JEFFPO for your specific fact-based statement.

I have always regarded a forum as an opportunity to inquire, to learn, and to benefit from the information and feed-back presented. It's often - as in my case - an opportunity for someone new to an interest or situation to add-to understanding and enjoyment of that interest or situation. This was my second post to the OGR On-Line Forum, and the replies to the first were so specific and helpful that I printed them to save in my files on the subject. Now, at the risk of being banned from the site, I need to state that many of the replies to this inquiry were somewhat less-than-polite wise-cracks and made me feel like a total fool for asking a simple and nagging question. The sustainability of this hobby - like most others - depends on a steady flow of new enthusiasts ready to fill and swell the ranks. And unless the treatment of those new individuals is polite and information-based the hobby and the industry are sure to be short-lived.

Thanks for the opportunity to express my opinion, and I've learned from the experience.

(That's why there are forums).  

Ray H posted:

Thanks, everyone, for responding to my inquiry. I appreciate the safety warnings (always important) and the specific product recommendation. And thank you JEFFPO for your specific fact-based statement.

I have always regarded a forum as an opportunity to inquire, to learn, and to benefit from the information and feed-back presented. It's often - as in my case - an opportunity for someone new to an interest or situation to add-to understanding and enjoyment of that interest or situation. This was my second post to the OGR On-Line Forum, and the replies to the first were so specific and helpful that I printed them to save in my files on the subject. Now, at the risk of being banned from the site, I need to state that many of the replies to this inquiry were somewhat less-than-polite wise-cracks and made me feel like a total fool for asking a simple and nagging question. The sustainability of this hobby - like most others - depends on a steady flow of new enthusiasts ready to fill and swell the ranks. And unless the treatment of those new individuals is polite and information-based the hobby and the industry are sure to be short-lived.

Thanks for the opportunity to express my opinion, and I've learned from the experience.

(That's why there are forums).  

Ray, Please do not let some of the posts “get to you”.  Just sort out the good and usable from the trash comments.  Your topic is one that has been threshed out before on the forum, BUT you are new, had a valid question, and “old hands” should have understood as they were once ”newbies”.  Overall, you will gain substantially from following and being a part of this forum and hobby.  Like the world, in general, – some of these guys speak from their heads and some from their rectums.  Hang in their buddy.

Thanks for the encouragement!

As a matter of practicality, I’ve found that all train “smoke” (which isn’t really smoke at all, but rather a fine vapor mist) smells.  And I have found that the smell varies between units.  I find that my better puffer units elicit a stronger odor than my fan-driven units.  But even NADA has a smell.

Jon