Adding a SMOKE UNIT & DCC to BACHMANN THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE

[@Calebtrain]

this is some good food Thank you for sharing your approach in such detail, the thoroughness is immensely helpful!

[@TheTrainModeller]

No worries Caleb, I'm glad you found this helpful :)

[@user-jf8xo1sr4h]

😊

[@thomasthetankman111]

Great video that I am sure everyone was waiting for!

[@chaosdustandsteam1781]

...I am actually really happy this video exists. Although I am slightly surprised. If you are not aware, the New Bachmann UK Thomas is DCC Ready, and Bachmann US is doing DCC Sound Fitted Thomas and Percy soon. It was supposed to come out last year, but certain......World Events meant decoders have been on back order. I wonder how it would work with this tutorial?

[@TheTrainModeller]

It's funny you should mention that. This video script was written before I received the donor chassis, and the model showcased here actually IS a DCC ready engine. I personally prefer to hardwire regardless because you can use a decoder that will take up far less space in shell, but with the DCC ready locos you just need to add a 'Next18' decoder - you'd need to make sure this one has extra function wires for your smoke unit though. I have no idea what decoder the sound Thomas and Percy will have, but again as long as it has extra function wires you'd be able to add a smoke unit. If not, you'd likely have to hard wire like shown in the tutorial regardless :)

[@peterglass8657]

I wish the Bachmann versions of Clarabel had a guard compartment where her face is.

[@Zara21king]

Lucas that was such an amazing tutorial!! One advice thing I suggest, since I was just looking for it, is there anyway you could provide a “links to buy supplies shown in video” area in the description? I know most videos are starting that trend. Saves people having to ask you and it also provides the exact stuff used during the video! :) But I’ll definitely have to give this a try in the future!!

[@TheTrainModeller]

Thank you so much man. That is a fantastic idea so I'll update the description!! :)

[@jessielorah7616]

@@TheTrainModeller so if you want some free adaptation stories then here list that you can more video you like 1. annual story. start with 80's first like Donald’s Duck you never know Terence Turns Pot Hunter On your guard Jack-in-the-box timer! Lost in the snow Trapped by Trees and Harold and the landslide both read by The Railway Series Storyteller, NewController01,TramEngineStudios and SmurfyDan 2. Random house books with Thomas The Tank Engine’s Noisy Trip read by Ryan T Happy Birthday, Thomas! read by Santa Reads Children's Books Aloud Thomas and the Hide-and-Seek Animals read by tele tales Wave Hello to Thomas! read by KIMBERLY McCawley Thomas and the School Trip Read by The Adventures Of The Silly Little Beaver New Tracks for Thomas read by JERRY'S BOOK TREE Stop, Train, Stop! read by Storytime with Frozendoll Thomas & The Helicopter Rescue read by TARDIS9 The Midnight Ride of Thomas the Tank Engine read BY Robin Smith Thomas and the Weather read by William and his Mommy Thomas the Tank Engine's Hidden Surprises read by Phoenix Family and Thomas the Really Useful Engine read by Enrique Junior Gomez 3. heinemann young book Thomas and the Bad Dog read by TARDIS9 and Tell the Time with Thomas by WoodenToby 4. mini story like Thomas and the Tiger Thomas and the Dinosaur Percy and the Kite- Read by Andrew Sachs Henry Goes to the Hospital james and the balloons Thomas and the Pony Show Read by Ron Haddrick and Thomas Goes to School read by Daniel Celano 5. extended railway series.yes again the story when after the new collection of no.41 so here new ones just Christopher w. awdry so here story of The ERS Audiobooks by Matt Cooper or from the channel TheERSchannel more stories like ERS 42 - Evan the Private Engine ERS 43 - Edward's Branch Line ERS 44 - Express Engines ERS 45 - Mid Sodor Engines ERS 46 - Diesel Engines Thomas Knows Best and The Tidmouth Lightningbolt from SiForumsAndFansite 6. NewController01 have old audio like Eagle The Graceful Single BoCo's Discovery SOUTH COAST ENGINES OAKHAM ROAD ENGINES THE BLUEBELL ENGINES The Ghost of Vicarstown Yard RIVAL ENGINES MIXED TRAFFIC ENGINES and FESTIVE ENGINES read by David burch and Tomthetrainfan 7. TARDIS9 audio Rosie and James The North Western Railway Series Volume 1 - The B Class Bullies Story Vandalism, Trouble On The Tidmouth Express,End Of The Line & Rescue In The Snow Duncan and Lady Jane Montague Volume 2 - Barrow Engines Story - The Vicarstown Bridge Disaster, Diesel and James, Passenger Problems,& Runaway Success! Trouble On Passenger Trains - A PRIDE Month Special The North Western Railway Series Volume 3 - Sad Little Engines Story Rex, Oliver and Miss Kinte, Sigrid and Greg & The Fundraising Event The Bluebell Ghosts Terence and Tammi 8. Crane Engine Studios Thomas & the Lion Messy Engines Billy's Adventure Rosie's Big Splash Harvey & the Creaking Snow Rescue Kite Catchers Molly & the Bees Wake Up Arthur! A Day At The Smelters 9. scary story Big Six The Ghost Train - Creepypasta train creepypasta train ride left behind by narrow gauge Maura-Liath: Engine Of The Ocean At the End of the Line by 22tesla The Tragic Tale of Roger by narrow gauge and 10. and the other story a buried truck story like Trevor's Bright Spark Graceful George Terence Gets Trapped Toby's Trial by Richard Jordon Derek’s Good Deed Captains and Coaches by maithwaitter Thrifty J50 and A Spook From the Past that's all now so if you gave paper and pencil or pen. write it down so you won't forget so good luck and enjoy make more videos.

[@zakthemrconductor5920]

Outstanding work 😃👍

[@TheTrainModeller]

Thank you :)

[@tempertantrum6464]

Would the smoke generator work on a standard DC operated locomotive or is DCC necessary?

[@jack_tle]

he said at the start of the video, dc wont generate enough power

[@trainstorm1225]

This was a very good tutorial, especially for someone learning DCC installs! Hopefully we’ll see more Thomas modelers use DCC! Have you had any trouble with the smoke units inside resin shells? May give this a try with my already DCC Thomas!

[@TheTrainModeller]

Thank you so much! I haven't been using the resin models for very long but I haven't had any problems so far :)

[@cybertroniccustomz998]

The tutorial was extremely helpful man keep up the good work

[@lbscstudiosjamesmcknight]

That tutorial was very helpful and very handy, thank you so much. It mean so much to many modellers along the way. And I was wondering, will you ever show us how you make your engines faces?

[@TheTrainModeller]

I'm really pleased you found this helpful :) I can definitely do that in the future. I'll make a note of it for the future.

[@stephenkostiak3929]

Diesel engines, like Mavis or Diesel, for instance, don’t need any smoke units, because diesel engines don’t emit steam at all. But they sometimes make nasty, black smoke.

[@drevianedwardsproductions9244]

A really good tutorial of how to put the smoke unit inside Bachman models.

[@TheTrainModeller]

Thank you so much :)

[@TheTrainboard]

Thank you so much for making this video. It's very well done and easy to follow along. I desperately want to add smoke units to my O-Scale Lionel Thomas, Percy & James. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Much love! - Ryan

[@tankthehedgehog105]

Nice Job! I Usually Want To Take A Look At The Steps Before I Even Want To Attempt Your Videos Are Great!

[@TheTrainModeller]

That's the best way - it's definitely a whole process.

[@Thomasin_motion]

What about diesel ?😅

[@james5productions198]

Omg @TheTrainModeller, you're a legend! Thank you so much!!!

[@TheTrainModeller]

Happy to help!! :)

[@wartrain_29]

So would this work for a hornby engine too?

[@daelengordon9495]

Making that video was a big help

[@JCcanine5284]

Good that you are Warning people that are under 18 so people won’t get hurt ❤

[@Tankengine4525]

Love this one

[@midgitguy13]

Hi TheTrainModeller, Thank you for this video, its a great tutorial. I'm a complete noob when it comes to model trains so please excuse my ignorance but I have a question regarding the smoke generator in this tutorial. At the end of this video and other videos on your channel I notice that your train models release steam/smoke from under the train aswell as the funnel. Is this all achieved with this small smoke generator? Or is there more to it? I have seen other model trains with steam/smoke from the funnels but I do not see train models with steam or smoke being released when the trains are running or when they stop. This effect looks amazing on your videos and I wanted to know how it was achieved. Looking forward to your reply. Thank you!

[@loona4133]

Yes let's go. This is awesome. I will learn a lot from here

[@TheTrainModeller]

Glad I was able to help! :)

[@S.L.F-G1]

Woah! the models actually function like the real things now! great work!

[@potatosspilled6621]

THANK YOU!!! I HAVE BEEN NEEDING THIS!

[@TheTrainModeller]

I'm glad I was able to help! :)

[@potatosspilled6621]

@@TheTrainModeller YOU DONT EVEN KNOW! T H A N K Y O U My Bachmann models have looked so, average. But now, THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL AND ELEGANT.

[@AnnoyingCartoons8435]

Now I know what to do when I make my thomas!

[@TankEngine97]

This video will definitely come in handy.

[@TheTrainModeller]

I hope so :)

[@thecaledoniansleeper2648]

I have some questions. 1. How hot should the soldering tool be in order to connect the wires? 2. How do you properly use the drill bit to cut off the funnel? and 3. Where can I find a 3d printed model of a 4.5 mm funnel? Is it on shapeways?

[@JustinFrazier_360]

That is cool

[@TheTrainModeller]

Thanks :)

[@Legomastr365]

*watches entire video despite not wanting to add smoke units to my models*

[@Pyxelator]

Awesome! Can't wait to DCC and smoke up my Engines! Also, I noticed in some shots that Duck and Oliver had physical handrails rather than the molded ones in usual Bachmann models. Could you tell me how you do that? Like what wiring do you use?

[@MichaelJones-vx7lt]

Very helpful and nice video but I have one question, what happened to your Duck and Oliver custom videos?

[@EvelynJiles232]

this is going to be so helpful, thank you so so much!

[@TheTrainModeller]

You're most welcome! :)

[@tomytrainguy7975]

Cool tutorial! Can you do this to a Tomy or Trackmaster Thomas?

[@kellyashfordtrains2642]

I'd like to see a Season 1 Thomas story, Thomas & the Guard, pretty please.

[@TheTrainModeller]

I should be making some classic series style episodes later in the year, and I'll see if I can take a look at this one!

[@greenio2011]

Quick questions if you do mod your Bachmann Thomas to work with DCC, can it still be DC operated? Also, if you mod the Bachmann “Thomas With Analog Sound” will the sound still work, and can you control the whistle sounds using a DCC controller?

[@NJ_stuffz]

Most decoders will still work on DC, read through the manual to learn about your specific decoder, as for the Analog sound one, I think the sound could still work, but most likely not

[@JCNUMBERand]

That is cool 😮

[@enricop.1813]

I saw the smoke generator, I was wondering whether it would be a Seuthe, I realized that it's an English video, I waited for the pronounciation and I did not get dissapointed. :D

[@Gooberengine]

is is possible for an HO scale Thomas or is it too small? (Calebtrain is here)

[@adriannash2705]

That’s the scale of Thomas that he’s using for this

[@matthewgersch1901]

Nice Work And Awesome Video You Have

[@adriannash2705]

Man this looks great, would this also work for Gordon or Henry?

[@TheTrainModeller]

The same method can be applied to every engine from the Bachmann Thomas range! Gordon/Henry are easier since you don’t need to make a new funnel 😁

[@notdukey]

What soldering iron did you use?

[@TheNewStoryteller]

My Commodore Vanderbilt has a timing of the steam that times the puffing yes it's DC but it's different to original live steam engines that run at full speed where as this one has a fan that controls the smoke unit.

[@JaysTheManNow]

Does it have to be a seuthe 22 unit or will others work the same?

[@stephenkostiak3929]

How about installing a smoke unit and DCC in Gordon the big, blue express engine?

[@TheTrainModeller]

The process is pretty much the same in terms of the wiring - it's just taking him apart that'll be a little different.

[@chihodominicng4003]

Why is the wheel under Gordon’s cab is missing ?

[@gingerninjalewis698]

yaaasssssss finally

[@TheTrainModeller]

Hahaha, it's been a long time coming!

[@Yeetusvoncheesusproductions]

Would it be possible to add sounds as well?

[@exveefan]

I know why you had to remove it, but I find it funny you said the Thomas was not DCC ready when you cut the circuit board that had a Blanking "Next18 Pin Decoder socket" fitted. ALSO, it would have been nice to recommend the DCC Decoder you were using. Because NOT all DCC Decoders Function outputs can handle the amount of power/Amps a Seuthe Smoke unit uses. Most are designed simply for LED Lights.

[@TheTrainModeller]

Yes you're right tbf - I'd written and recorded the scripts before I received the donor chassis and forgot to actually say this one was DCC ready. That's a very good point and I'll make sure I add that to the description. That'll teach me for being hasty! I'll be sure to add more details in the description. Thank you :)

[@Tuckinator15]

What about to a DC Bachmann Percy with just smoke unit and no decoder?

[@TheNewStoryteller]

Have you looked at my films to record my narrating voice for your films yet? And by the way I said to you friend Thomasthetankman111 about a Commodore Vanderbilt I've got one myself and there's well the same steam as your custom models of Thomas and his friends live steam. Do you open a window in case you get your train set room too smokey?

[@hectorz9555]

I have a crazy idea of trying to put one of these in a trackmaster engine given the scaling… but I don’t think it would work well

[@shanestrains548]

I WISH that you could just Hollow out the funnel to fit the Smoke unit.

[@PackerTrain3831]

Is there anywhere can I get the 3D-printed funnel

[@TWTE2001]

Thank you for the tutorial! Really makes me intrigued to intigrate it for my models one day. Out of topic though: how exactly would it be possible to change the polarity of the motor? There are some shells that fit back to front, and I was thinking if it's possible to integrate that AND implement DCC.

[@TheTrainModeller]

I'm pretty sure that there are CVs you can change on your decoder (with whichever DCC system you use) that allows you to change the polarity electronically. I've never done it before though!

[@Thomasremakes55]

this video will help me a lot 😄

[@TheTrainModeller]

Always happy to help!! :)

[@Nathanplayz.shorts]

Can we buy the funnels of of websites like shapeways also and can I have link

[@TheNewStoryteller]

Nice. I wonder if you could do Bertie The Bus in remote control? I'll bet it's difficult to make?

[@TheTrainModeller]

I've always wanted to do something like that - I'm sure there's a way for it to be done.... :o

[@1471SirFrederickBanbury]

@@TheTrainModeller there is a company that makes an rc kit for ho scale called tiny4x4. Im thinking that one of those kits could be adapted to make a chassis for Bertie.

[@CookieSeth]

How is there smoke in there

[@Bluebell323]

Yes but who’s is Geoffrey

[@TheNewStoryteller]

Though I was hoping for some stories and perhaps you can look up my Thomas film, one is when Toby takes a goods train and passengers to his tram way, I thought it myself the story you can have my permission to use my story for your films you post as long as you listen to my narration when rewriting the script.

[@TheTrainModeller]

I'll definitely be uploading some stories soon. I'll be sure to watch your videos - thank you for sharing :) I really appreciate that!

[@TheNewStoryteller]

No problem you'll like the story of it on Sodor not in Australia and Tasmania. There's even Daisy visiting the tramway and Gordon in it too if there are no crossovers.

[@TheNewStoryteller]

​@@TheTrainModelleryou might want to check or if you have checked the questions I gave you they were a lot. Like I said in the other comment if there's no crossover.

[@Stuingtion]

How about a working headlight?

[@TheTrainModeller]

I can definitely make a tutorial for that in the future! :)

[@Stuingtion]

@@TheTrainModeller awesome!

[@Zombiehunter2_0]

I thought this would be a prank because of the upload date, but I guess not.

[@sonicdrew]

Can you Editorial where you don't have to use as much expensive things My family doesn't have Daddy's money And neither do I own a youtube channel with 131K subscribers But if I was able to do this I think it would work pretty well and it was easy to understand Even though I wasn't actually doing it

[@thelonecoach6976]

Or get a job"¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

[@StumpyFunnel]

isn’t that like impossible

[@CookieSeth]

😊p

[@Bluebell323]

I will do because i am 11 years