I recently purchased 2 Bachmann steam engines. One is engine number 3234, and the other is number 150. I see smoking and non smoking units online. How do I tell if these are smoking ? I do see a round piece with 2 shiny bars going across it down in the smokestacks.
Thanks
Those are both older style 0-6-0 locos sold individually and with sets. They came both with, and without, smoke units. The only way to tell for sure is if you have the original box, which will say if it has smoke, or opening the loco up.
That said, smoke does not scale well, leaves a residue on everything if used on a regular basis, and can soften the plastic loco shell from the heat if used too long. If there's no fluid in the unit, they do not turn on. So it's okay to run these units without smoke fluit in them.
People with DCC layouts tend to remove the smoke unit and use the space where it was to install a "Z- scale" decoder. As long as it's rated 1 amp, or better, it will work fine.
Len
Quote from: Len on July 24, 2025, 06:20:31 PMThose are both older style 0-6-0 locos sold individually and with sets. They came both with, and without, smoke units. The only way to tell for sure is if you have the original box, which will say if it has smoke, or opening the loco up.
That said, smoke does not scale well, leaves a residue on everything if used on a regular basis, and can soften the plastic loco shell from the heat if used too long. If there's no fluid in the unit, they do not turn on. So it's okay to run these units without smoke fluit in them.
People with DCC layouts tend to remove the smoke unit and use the space where it was to install a "Z- scale" decoder. As long as it's rated 1 amp, or better, it will work fine.
Len
Whoa, Len, I think you've got most of this backwards.
The only steam engine I'm aware of that will melt from the smoke unit is the BLI J, and only if you turn the head up all of the way.
The smoke unit in the 0-6-0 isn't the best, but unless it's been re-designed in the last 20 years my experience is that it does not melt the engine, but if you run it without fluid it will burn itself out.
If you shine a light down the smoke stack, and can see the little metal tube with 2 wires coming off of it, it has the smoke unit.
I ran a model train repair shop for almost 15 years. In that time I had a number of the old style 0-6-0 locos brought in with shells that had sagged in from the heat of a smoke unit in operation for extended periods.
And, unlike a number of other locos, operating them without fluid doesn't burn that particular smoke unit out. It's designed so the fluid is part of the circuit that makes them operate. If they go completely dry, they just turn off.
Len