Hey I got a quick question for the “experts”. Is there a way to set the voltage on the CW 80, so the when the throttle is at 100 the trains will not go screaming off the track? I was over at my friend’s house for Christmas Eve and their children loved the NYC starter set they have under the tree. The older kids operated it fine but the younger ones would just throttle to 100 and derail the train. I took the handle off but the kids with their little fingers figured out how to turn the metal knob in about 10 minutes. Any ideas would be helpful for next year. By the way I made them a little blue foam tunnel, painted white, then used plaster of paris for snow drifts and put on some trees and small animals for scenery. Did it in the garage while watching the football games Sunday night and it was a big hit all around. Well thanks ahead of time for the response!
I taught my kids how to operate ours by showing them how to run it responsibly. They were only 4 and 1 when they learned. I never let them run the trains without supervision, and once they set the throttle, there wasn’t a lot of off and on with it, except my daughter, who needs to control everything. They seemed happy just to work the whistle and bell controls.
Is there a way to set the voltage on the CW 80, so the when the throttle is at 100 the trains will not go screaming off the track?
I’ll let lionelsoni or ACDX Rob have a whack at the electronics end of things.
Before going any further, one might consider that Lionel has long labeled their products for use by ages 8 and above, with supervision. To illustrate just how much weight this carries, I recently saw a question on one of the forums recently where a guy was looking for suggestions for the proper train to buy for a kid who is still an embryo. Honest.
That said, you can try the crude mechanical approach. Temporarily adhere a rubber cork or the like to the case of the transformer to mechanically limit the movement of the throttle to a safe level; or
Use the “psychological” approach. Keep a pan of oil simmering on a nearby stove. (Don’t use lead, because the fumes can be quite hazardous.) When one of the little darlings runs your brand new Challenger off the ping-pong table, briefly dip his little fingers into the hot oil. For maximum effect, this must be done in full view of the others.
Happy New Year, everybody! Happy Halloween! And Happy Guy Fawkes Day too!
Note: Readers may notice the lack of “smiley faces” in this post. That should not be interpreted to mean that everything herein should be taken seriously. Go Giants, eh?
Jumijo,
Sounds like your daughter will make someone a fine wife some where down the road.
I’m figuring from your question and initial solution that didn’t work(pulling the handle off) that you don’t want the little kids changing the speed setting at all?
If this is the case, just run the train from the programmable accessory posts on the CW80. Once programmed to your desired speed, it will come on at that setting every time it’s plugged in. The lil’ ones can play with that throttle handle all they want and it won’t change a bit. No horn or whistle blasting incessantly, either.
Your suggestion has merit, but I rejected it precisely because there would be no whistle, horn or bell for the kiddies to play with. The limiting case of the constant-speed approach is to pull the plug, of course.
How about loading twenty or thirty cars into a consist? The CW80 will eventually reach its limit and the green light will start to flash as the “fold-back” circuit limits any further attempt at greater speed. If the couplers hold up, there’s your answer.
Actually, I thought you or lionelsoni would come up with something that involved a modest number of diodes…?
As witnessed by the kids’ circumvention of the purloined throttle handle, it is clear that they can learn, even at very tender ages. Early in my career in experimental psychology, some of my colleagues (some would say accomplices) showed that if you introduce a cat into a situation where he wants to cross an electrified grid, and set the voltage high enough to knock the cat tail-over-teacups, the cat will never-the-less come back for a second attempt. The second jolt would usually teach the cat the necessary avoidance skills. It is useful to recognize that kids are generally smarter than cats, although not necessarily as endearing.
Why didn’t one try suffice? You’d have to ask the cat. Incidentally, I didn’t participate in these “ground-breaking” experiments, but I did observe some of them and filed protests. This was pre-PETA. By the way, these were your tax dollars at work.
Thanks so much. It’s often very difficult to get a chuckle around here. There might even be a few ideas somewhere in this thread that could be improved upon.
If you’re just running one/same train, a sticky-back plastic/rubber “foot” (to prevent things from scratching a table) will work to limit the handle travel. For various engines, I drilled 3 small holes, and inserted a short plastic tube (Plastruct small diam), and placed it in the hole that was “right” for a particular engine. Joe
I have to agree…My 2 year old operates it with no problem. Once I showed him how, he took to it and learned that the train won’t go flying off the track. He’s happy that the train runs continuously even if it is a little slower.