We just put together my sons first train set, a Penn Flyer, from Lionel. Everything works but the whistle. All the book says is to make sure the connections are correct. Its a pretty fool proof setup, red to red, black to black. It also says to let the track power up for a few moments. I let it power up for five mnutes before touchng anything. Any ideas?
I will answer your query with a series of questions. Did you install a battery in the locomotive for the sound system? Some require that although that should be stated in the instructions. Next when putting the track together, did you make sure all the rail joiners/track clips were tight? Two more items to check make sure the positive wire(red) is powering the center rail and the negative(black) is powering both outside rails.
Lastly some of the Lionel systems require that the power be totally off to the track before putting the locomotive on. In other words shut the power off and let the transformer set for a few minutes to drain their capacitors before putting the train on the track. You say everything works but the whistle? Does this engine have either a chuffing sound or a smoke unit?
So you did get him the set. try posting this on the toy trains forum they are the Lionel Guys
Ok, tried all that and still nothng. Everythng else is ok, smoke works, drection button works. I did notice that when the whistle button is pressed the lights dim a bit, but no whistle.