55 Ton 3 truck Shay with ESU Loksound, moving figures and improved smoke

[MaximDeDonder]

Hi everyone!

I am new to the forum.  I wanted to start with an improvement that I made on my Shay. I noticed that the smoke unit produces a great amount of smoke, but due to bad airflow the smoke isn't always visible. I placed a very tiny fan in the boiler, just behind the smoke unit. Now the smoke is better than ever!
I coupled the fan and smoke unit to my ESU decoder. When the locomotive starts to roll, the smoke amount increases.

Enjoy the videos, and if you have questions, shoot!

First test of sounds, moving bell and fireman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1A_xIE_7w8

First test run in the garden, before smoke modification
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX0mlXuHtAo

Ride with improved smoke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kldyqGjdt0k

Test of the fan in the boiler by switching on and off, watch the difference!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62RiAp-GxYQ

Greetings from Belgium!

Maxim

[RkyGriz]

Great job! Now,please share with us what you did ,which fan you used, and how you went about installing it on your loco. I've seen a fan driven smoke unit available for sale on Ebay,but I'm not sure how to install it ,or if it would be compatible with the Bachmann 4-6-0. So your fix may well be the best way to go.Thanks!
Andrew from Reno,Nevada

[MaximDeDonder]

Hi Andrew!

I used a micro sized fan that I ordered by my local computer shop, specs are: 17 x 17 x 8 mm, 1.5m³/h, 0.8W, 5 V
I connected it to the U+ and a function output of the ESU decoder. Then I programmed that output as 'Seuthe smoke unit' and added a resistor in series of about 70 ohm. This way the fan turns slow when standing still and goes faster when the train starts to roll. It's also possible to program it as smoke trigger so that it blows on every trigger of the cylinders.

I simply glued the fan on the Bachmann smoke unit. Under an angle so that the air flow pushes the smoke into to smoke stack. I placed the smoke unit and fan as one piece back in the boiler. I don't have pictures of that unfortunately.

I hope this can help you.

Greetings,
Maxim

[RkyGriz]

Thanks, Maxim, for the reply. This is a great idea
and worth a try on one of my many locos. I'll let you know.
Thanks again!
Andrew