How to get smoke from 51501?

[ptsdmd]

 We purchased a nice B'man 51501 HO prairie 2-6-2 w/ tender.  It is supposed to smoke, but there are no instructions about how to use the liquid that came with the engine.  Can anyone tell us what to do?

[Chris350]

usually and I emphasis usually one places a couple of drops of smoke fluid down the stack of the engine.  Then you have to know which function switch on your controller turns pn the smoke unit.  It's different fro DC and DCC.  It will help to let us know what system you are using and whether it's DCC or DC.  This ought to be in the enclosed documentation with the locomotive, if not have a look at the product references listed under the tab to the left.] to see if your stuff is listed there.


Posted from 30K feet over southern Utah.

[ABC]

Put 2 small drops of fluid in, then run at full throttle for about ten or fifteen minutes, then it might start smoking a little. Ideally you should remove the smoke unit and replace it with lead to improve the weight distribution of the loco and avoid having the pony trucks derailing when going over turnouts and it will coat your track (and everything else) with a film that attracts dirt and dust, which will lead to the track requiring more frequent cleaning.
And Chris I have no clue what your talking about, Bachmann doesn't make prairies with DCC, nor do they make any locos in which the smoke machines can be toggled on and off.

[Chris350]

And Chris I have no clue what your talking about, Bachmann doesn't make prairies with DCC, nor do they make any locos in which the some machines can be toggled on and off.

Well,  THANK YOU for setting me straight.  My experience runs toward locomotives with a few more options than this one.  Pardon my ignorance.  Since we all speak from our own experience, perhaps you'll see that there are different levels of same here.
<Steps of soapbox and leaves room>

[jbsmith]

Find the smoke fluid bottle, it looks kind of like an eyedropper.
Take the cap off.
With a pair of scissors snip off the very end of the neck as it is sealed.
Put 3 or 4 drops down the stack. Do NOT put anymore than that in there.
Run the loco at about 70-75% of full power and will start to work after about One to Two minutes.
When the loco stops making smoke, then you can add more fluid.
Don't expect great volumes of smoke to come out, any smoke that comes out will be thin and wispy.

So long as you clean the tracks on a regular basis there is nothing to worry about.
And NO, contrary to popular belief, It does NOT make your layout look like it got sprayed with Pam.
Any oil that does come will land on the loco and is easily cleaned off with a cloth rag.

Ignore ABC,,to remove the smoke unit you must totally disassemble the loco and literally tear it down.
There are no problems with the weight distribution, the locos are fine the way Bachmann made them in that regard.

I have two Prairies myself and they work just great without modifacations.