I have a 3'rd rail sunset steam engine from 1999 that I haven't run in a while. What would be a good smoke fluid that I can use? Can lionel or mth proto smoke be used or is there another specific brand? Thanks.
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I think most will say to use JT Megasteam-they like the smells and it works. The others are OK too.
JT's Mega-Steam - love the scents!
CREST. It works great in everything.
Lionel Premium smoke fluid for me.
MegaSteam. I prefer NADA except for my MARX. Then I luzs to use that Pepe LePew flavor of MARX!
Hands down for me: MegaSteam in NADA.
I too like Nada but have other brands as well. They all seem to work just fine.
I use both Lionel and Megasteam, in both Legacy and conventional engines. I like the Megasteam cedar scent...kinda Christmasy. There seems to be a slightly greater tendency to "burp" up fluid onto the engine with the Megasteam as opposed to the Lionel; I stress "seems". But the Megasteam evaporates fairly rapidly and I have yet to need to use the cleaner they sell so it has not been a problem. And the "burping" takes place with my Legacy Polar Express Berkshire. The Sante Fe Northern has a large throat in the stack, doesn't burp even when overfilled, and smokes better with any brand of fluid than any engine I've seen.
Maybe Lionel can get Rich to record, "Well, excuse YOU!" to be added to the crew talk in the Berkshire when she burps.
This is like asking a car guy what the best motor oil is. There is no one right answer as to which fluid is better.
I have tried all of the liquid smokes, and I find that the amount of smoke produced is dependent on the viscosity of the fluid and the temperature of the heating resistors.
At this time my favorite smoke scent is MTH's Apple Spice. I also like Johnson & Johnson's Baby Oil. After catching a cold and my nose is out of commission, CVS' mineral oil works real well (no smell).
Sorry - basic question here: Does your 1999 steamer have a fan driven smoke unit? From experience I think that some 3rd Rail models of that time did not but had Seuthe units instead. You can tell just by looking down the stack because a Seuthe unit basically consists of a tubular reservoir with a heating element in the middle - no resistor or wicking.
I understand that most smoke fluids will work in both fan driven and Seuthe units but there are products sold specifically for the latter, by Aristo and Marklin for example. I once put MTH fluid in a Seuthe-equipped 3rd Rail engine and got very inadequate smoke production.
Lionels Premium Smoke Fluid #6-37841
The Lionel premium is what we use. It doesn't smell great but it seems to produce a lot of smoke - just a bit more than the various flavors of Megasteam that we have.
I just got my first bottle of megasteam because my LHS was out of the lionel premium that I was die hard set on.I will never go back to the Lionel premium.The fact is you get much more smoke out of the mega steam.I love the rubber topped applicator.I can see exactly how much fluid I am putting in without counting drops.Nick
I am a big fan of Mega Steam and the people there are very nice,my favorite scents Coal and Oil Fired Steam.
Mikey
Mega Steam, Lionel Premium, MTH - even used LGB's or what every I have laying around. Not married to a particular brand.
When I need more I look for volume first then price. When the cost of a small 2 ounce bottle is between $6.00 ~ $8.00, it is more than 3X's the cost of a gallon of gas (NJ is at $1.70 / gallon regular and $1.80 premium) - I look for the best way to buy - typically in bulk. Sounds crazy because we pay for engines, boxcars, etc. but that would mean a gallon of fluid at $6.00 would be $768.00. Shop around, buy in bulk it works.
I tried 2 kinds on Mega Steam and was very disappointed. It hardly produced any smoke at all, while the MTH sample that came with my train will fill the room with smoke.
Stephen
I use MTH SMOKE fluid in my MTH ENGINES
I USE JT MEGASTEAM in MY MTH ENGINES !
I use JT MEGASTEAM in my two lionel christmas engines !
Great smoke volume !
PLEASE note I Sell the Lionel smoke fluid for Lionel trains only!
Please NOTE if you just bought a Lionel Engine just use Lionel fluid until the warranty runs out !
I have a WBB "J" and there is a tag with the engine that says use only Williams fluid or void the warrenty. Will other brands hurt the engine?
Redball,
I tried megasteam in a williams turbine and it killed the smoke unit despite megasteam's claim of being safe for seuthe units.
I'd say to stick with the willims fluid for williams locos.
GRAZ,
Thank You!
