I have four "modern", command steam locomotives. Three of them have stopped smoking. A Lionel PWC 773 Hudson from about 2000, a Lionel 0-6-0 (not starter set version) switcher from about 2000, a Lionel Nickle Plate scale Berk from about 2010, and a K-Line 0-4-0 A-5 switcher. All have smoked, but only the A-5 currently does smoke. I'm afraid to try taking anything apart to see what's inside. I decided to try Bullfrog Snot in place of broken traction tire on the NKP Berk. While the Berk was "running" slowly upside down in a cushion cradle so I could apply the Snot, I noticed smoke. I feared the worst, but it turns out to not be the bad burned board smoke, but good smoke from what I thought was a dead smoke unit! I can only get a slight wiff of smoke right side up on the tracks. For kicks I tried the upside down trick on the 0-6-0 and same thing, I get smoke from what I thought was dead. Does anyone have a guess as to what's going on? I've used the same smoke fluid in all four of these, plus the Lionel hot box reefer (no smoke issues), plus Postwar and MPC steamers with no smoke issues. I've read about "flooding" the smoke unit, so I've always tried to add the fluid sparingly. I admit that once the smoke stopped, maybe I then flooded these by adding a few drops too many times. Can I run these upside down to "dry out" the smoke units and start from scratch? Does anyone have any thoughts?
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