Steam locomotive - where does the oil go?

[grandmapam]

My grandson has a Pacific Flyer Bachmann train.  We can't find where to put the oil in to make the steam in the locomotive?  Any help?

[ACY]

It goes in the smokestack, but it is possible that you have burnt out your smoke unit if you have run it for a while without any smoke fluid inside. Also in order for it to work, you have to run the locomotive at full speed for a little while for it to start and then leave it at full speed if you want it to continue coming out.

[Jim Banner]

Strictly speaking, the oil does not make steam.  It makes oil smoke which looks like steam.  The smoke rises because it is hot.  When it cools, it condenses forming tiny oil droplets which are heavier than air and drop.  They drop on the train.  They drop on the tracks.  They drop on anything near the track.  If you are running the train on the dining room table, the droplets can fall on the table cloth, on the seats of chairs around the table and on the carpet where it is not covered by the table or chairs.  Fortunately, the droplets are nearly invisible.  Unfortunately, the dust that falls out of the air and sticks to the oil droplets is not invisible.  Often, however, it is difficult to clean up.

You will not likely have a problem with oil smoke if you use smoke oil only very rarely.  If you want to use it regularly, consider setting up the train tracks on a sheet of plywood or on top of a ping pong table down in the cellar, up in the attic, or some other location where the condensed oil cannot hurt your good furniture or your broadloom.

Jim