Hello I had posted a question some time ago about running the “The Mighty Sound of Beans” tender behind the 4-4-2 engine and having the Pennsy tender (that has a whistle) sitting somehwere on a siding just off the loop.
It is just a simple loop around the tree with a manual switch and one section of fastrack with a bumper at the end.
I thought that as long as the loop was connected to the siding where the tender is that the whistle will still work, but it doesn’t.
I maybe overlooking something really simple. I was wondering if anyone out there had any ideas or experience with the problem that I am having.
Seems like it should work, if there is current getting to the siding. Try reversing the wires from the transformer to the track; that is, if a red wire is connected to the center rail and a black wire is connected to an outside rail, try swapping them at one end.
It might help if you could be more specific about what equipment you are using.
Sorry, I am using a CW-80 that came from the Pennsy Flyer set. The tender with the whistle and the engine that I am using too is from that set. The tender does whistle while on the main line. It also whistled when I inadvertanly drove the loco onto the siding where the tender was sitting. Which is another reason I dont understand why it does not work while just sitting there alone.
I will try swapping the wires like you had said and see if that makes a difference.
It seems like you don’t have track voltage on that siding. I suspect that the reason it whistled when you ran the locomotive onto the siding is that the locomotive’s pickup or wheels, or both, connected the siding rails to the main line. Try putting a lighted caboose or passenger car on the siding and see whether it lights up.
I switched the wires like bf stated and it works. I thought it would be something simple that I just overlooked. I did not get much time to run my trains for a long time. I only get to run them during Christmas time around the tree nowadays. I had a 5x9 set up in my basement but I had a problem with ants last Christmas and had to put train away early then I had to take down the 5x9 due to running out of room for the storage boxes that are filling up the basement. So when we move to a bigger house I will set up a layout.
Again thanks for the replys and help it is greatly appreciated. I know if I ever have an issue this is the place to go.
Since you said you used a manual switch, Im going to guess it is the center rail connection from the switch to the track on the siding. Remote switches have one of the outside rails insulated so you have to make sure that one rail connection is good. With a manual switch you dont have that problem, both outside rails are connected together. Anyway back to the topic. Very easy to test. Actuate the whistle and use a coin or a screwdriver blade to touch the center rail of the switch to the center rail of the siding. When you inadvertently ran the engine into the siding the front pickup bridged the siding center rail to the switch center rail through the rear pickup. Note: There should be no insulating pins between the switch and the siding.
Evidently I stumbled onto the solution, but I’ve been sitting here for quite some time trying to understand why my suggestion worked. I think I finally figured it out.
I don’t know which version of the CW80 he has (early or revised) but in either case whether the whistle/horn button blows a whistle or a bell depends upon the polarity of the transformer/controller relative to the track. The two versions do this in exactly opposite ways.
With a postwar air-whistle, polarity would not have mattered – the whistle should have sounded regardless of which button was pressed. But apparently this modern tender is sensitive to whether the “DC offset” is positive or negative; and was hooked up backwards for this particular version of the CW80.
I suspect that the modern tender in question does not have any bell circuitry. Therefore, when the operator pressed the whistle button, the CW80 tried to ring a non-existent bell. Reversing the polarity of the wires between the transformer/controller and the track sent out the appropriate signal to the whistle.
If I’m right, it illustrates a point I’ve been trying to make for a long time: It is necessary to know exactly what equipment is in use. When a CW80 is involved it is often essential to know which version is in play, and precisely how it is hooked up to the track.
I guess I should have also told you that I purchased this Pennsy Set in late 2006 and I belive that it is the “Revised” CW80. I remember reading a post that stated that if your CW80 had a certain letter in the serial number or something like that, then it was a revised one. It runs pretty good, have not had any issues with it.
If I remember correctly I had the black wire attached to the center rail and the red attached to the outer rail. It is possible since the siding (manual switch) was coming off the inside rail, and the tender’s whistle did not work. And when I connected the red to the inner rail and kept the black to the center, it worked like I thought it would. Was the power not gettting to the siding when it was connected to the outside rail?
Like I stated before I am not real experienced with running trains so wiring them which seems to be not too difficult, but when I read some of the replys to this post and others it now seems more confusing then I thought.
I am greatful that this forum exists so that I can learn as much as I can so that when I have more room, I can make a layout and complicate it a little more.
I agree that you most likely have a Revised version of the CW80. One way to tell is to turn it over and look for a Date Code that says “Made In China” followed by either four or five characters, It if has five characters, beginning with the letter “G,” it is a revised one. If it has only four characters, all numbers, it is a pre-revision one.
With the revised ones, the orange terminal A should be connected to the center rail; and a black terminal “U” * should be connected to an outside rail.
Your siding was getting “track power” from the transfomer, as was the rest of the layout.
To understand what went wrong, you have to know how Lionel whistles, bells, horns, etc. work. It involves super
then I had to take down the 5x9 due to running out of room for the storage boxes that are filling up the basement. So when we move to a bigger house I will set up a layout.