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I have had a 2020 for a while now and cleaned it up and have been running it. not being into post war I am not that familiar with some things. I think these were set up for the smoke pellets , if so what can i do now as i understand they do not make them anymore.  Thanks  Rick

 

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Smoke pellets are available, made by a third party. They work just like the originals, including the smell.

But: you didn't say which 2020 Turbine you have. The first year they were made a special bulb was used to melt the pellet and make smoke. Those smoke bulb pellets were a different formula. They were corrosive, and probably toxic. So those pellets are not available. And if you found old ones, they would be decomposed by now.  Some folks use liquid smoke with this model.
When Lionel developed the heater type smoke unit, they offered conversion kits to switch Smoke Bulb engines to use them.  (Maybe you have a converted one).

If you have a converted smoke bulb engine (1946) or a heater type smoke engine, the new pellets work great.

Plus, some folks use liquid smoke in pellet heater type smoke units. Not something I'd do or recommend. One reason being that I don't like liquid smoke.

Last edited by C W Burfle

Just a bit of unsolicited advise:

Be careful not to put too many pellets in. Many times, an operating session will not consume all of the pellet. The leftover material will solidify, stay in the smoke unit. The next time the engine is used, the remainder will melt and smoke, just like a fresh pellet.
So: don't automatically put in a fresh pellet at the beginning of an operating session. Make certain the old stuff is used up first. Otherwise your smoke unit will start getting a build up of excessive material. This will actually reduce the amount of smoke generated, and if enough pellet material builds up, the unit will clog.

You might be surprised at how common a problem this is with Postwar Lionel locomotives.

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Ste 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
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