I have been thinking of buying the starter set of Thomas for the grandkids,
Is it possible to run the williams engines on the same system and have the horn blow ?
How does the whistle blow on the Thomas set
Thank you
Rich
Yes, the Williams should work fine. The Thomas sets are convetional operation and depending on the engine, the horn, or bell, or both work through a transformer button.
Get it and have fun!
Go for it, my grandson has a ball playing with the Thomas & Friends we have given him.
When you buy it verify as to which transformer comes with the set. Not sure if it has been done with the Thomas sets but some of the other Lionel entry level sets have been downgraded to a 40 watt transformer as opposed to the 80 watt, CW80. Early versions had some issues that were resolved and they are an excellent one for younger kids who generally can be pretty abrupt with throttle movements. When the throttle is first opened the power actually comes up slowly and smoothly. The Lionel Fastrack [tup] , great for kids to work with.
Williams will work fine with the track and transformer.
Thank you
We will pick one up after we do our taxes
Rich
I’ve been considering picking this set up as well, mostly as a cost-effective way of getting more track (it appears to be the lowest priced Lionel set that is bundled with a full 40” x 60” set of FasTrack). I’m a little concerned about the PowerMax transformer that is included with the set but I already have a 1033 and CW-80 transformers.
| FEATURES: |
|---|
- Transformer controlled forward, neutral and reverse operation |
- Moving eyes on Thomas the Tank Engine™ |
- Electronic whistle |
- Operating coupler on rear of locomotive |
- Dual operating couplers on Annie and Clarabel |
- Powerful maintenance-free motor |
- Traction tire |
- Set of three removable faces |
- Removable roofs on Thomas, Annie and Clarabel |
- Three play figures There is no horn on Thomas… mine doesn’t have the moving eyes or the whistle. [:(] |
Well, Thomas, Percy and James all have a bizarro-sounding ‘diesel-horn’ instead of a classic whistle. I does give you a sound when you press the transformer button. I was toying with the idead of opening them up to see if there was a potentiameter (sp) I could adjust. But I’d probably break something.
check out www.hobbystation.net
as they have the cascade logging set with 40 X 60 with the cw-80 transformer for $133
they have the PA. flyer with the 0-8-0 steam engine for $145 with 40X60 track and 40 watt transformer
I can’t speak for James, but my (er, my daughter’s) Thomas and Percy have whistles that sound close to the ones on the show to me. Maybe I’ve got too good an imagination.
One nice thing about the Thomas set is that I was unable to make the train fly off the rails. It wouldn’t go fast enough, at least not with the CW-80.
J White
Good prices. Thanks for the nudge.
That’s interesting - about the whistles. I’ll have to try to record what they sound like to me - maybe its a transformer issue.
I doubt it, I have the exact same issue with the Thomas set I got for my son. It’s definitely a diesel horn [:(]
I have the Thomas set, too, and it’s clearly a whistle, not a diesel horn sound. Also, I bought mine last year and called a few vendors to see if they had the set with the 80W transformer still in stock. I put a notice on the OGR classified forum and got some great responses. It’s worth a shot to get the 80W transformer. I ordered the set from http://www.toontoy.com/. Good luck!
The Thomas whistle is nowhere near the peep heard on the show. Instead, it is the very same whistle (and same chassis I believe) used on the Lionel Docksider which, to my ear, sounds like an old Edsel horn on helium. I think it the horn on both is horrid, but my 4-year old loves it so, guess whose opinion matters on that one? bigwally