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How to Make a Toy Train Smoke

Most scale model toy trains have a smoke unit, if smoking is appropriate for the particular type of locomotive. Those units require either pellets that heat over the locomotive headlight bulb, or liquid that heats within the smoke unit. It is not recommended to convert a non-smoking locomotive to smoke, since heating fluid in a locomotive that may be made from inappropriate materials could be a fire hazard. And you certainly wouldn̵7;t want to see a diesel engine running down the track with smoke pouring from under it.

Things You'll Need

Locomotive with smoke unit
Smoke pellets or fluid
Fiberglass (or other non-flammable, absorbent material, if converting a pellet unit to fluid)
Screwdriver

Instructions

- 1
  Remove the body cover from the locomotive, exposing the smoke unit beneath the smokestack. Clean the reservoir for the pellet or fluid. With a screwdriver or knife, scrape out any old pellet or smoke fluid residue.
- 2
  Fill the reservoir with a small amount of fiberglass, if your locomotive is an old Lionel and you are converting from pellets to fluid. This conversion is recommended, since the pellets haven̵7;t been manufactured for 40 years, and they̵7;ve become scarce and expensive.
- 3
  Return the locomotive body to its chassis.
- 4
  Place a few drops of smoke fluid down the smokestack into the fiberglass. Run the train. In the old Lionels, the headlamp bulb will heat the fluid and create smoke. Some more modern smoke units may have a mechanism to make smoke puffs.

Model Railroads