Hi, just got signed up to this site, and have a question about wiring an AF air chime whistle.
I have a 5X10 layout with 2 main track loops each having 4 sets of feeder wires. I have always run AF Stream locomotives, but recently aquired a nice Alco Diesel set with the air chime whistle.
According to the wiring instructions the track wires from the whistle control box must be the only wires to feed power to the track. I would prefer not to disconnect all my feeder wires, as the trains run well now around the table at a pretty even speed.
Does anyone know if there is a way to use the whistle together with multiple feeder wires?
If you look carefully at the wiring diagram, it really is only the green wire that goes to the track from the box that is unique. If you want the horn to work, all the feeders of the variable current have to go through the horn/whistle box. If you have even one in the same block that does not do so, the horn will not work.
On previous layouts, I put a toggle switch in the circuit so that the variable feed going to the track could come either from the horn/whistle box or directly from the transformer.
I was quite dissappointed with the way the air chime Whistle/Horn sounded, and, on the current layout, didn’t bother to wire in the control box, prefering, instead the sound of a billboard horn. Before you alter your wiring, listen to the whistle/horn on a test loop of track or on the workbench and decide if it is worth the effort.
Thank you for the response. Exactly what I was afraid of, I can’t see the one set of feeders through the control box working out very well. Great idea about a test track setup to see what the horn even sounds like. I will put something together today.
The test is complete and I think I will stick with the Billboard whistle. I removed my existing wire feeds and hooked up the whistle per the diagram. I lose about half a volt at the far side of the loop. I was surprized to see that does not slow the train down considerably. However you are correct the Air Chime whistle does not sound good. I don’t know if I could have a weak generator tube, but it just sounds like a buzzing to me. Back to the old wiring and the billboard whistle for now.