A few months ago, I posted a problem with my new Traisounds tender. The horn and bell didn’t work properly when I used it with postwar engines, and hardly at all when I used it with my 2055 (the engine I primarily want to use it with). Today I was downstairs running the trains and tried it again. As to be expected, it still didn’t work. So I was ready to call Lionel, and see if this was a unique problem, or if they knew of a fix. I had the phone in my hand, and figured I better look at the instructions one last time before I call. On the first page, it says ot to use the tender without a lighted engine, passenger car or caboose. The headlight on my 2055 is currently burnt out, and I was running a string of 9700 boxcars. The last boxcar has a FRED, so no caboose. I added a lighted caboose to the train, and tried again. The horn worked more regularly, but not great. I added two lighted passenger cars, and the horn worked pretty well (I’m guessing it would work flawlessly on very clean track).
So now I’m thinking if I replace the headlight on this engine and use a lighted caboose, this tender may work properly. But if it doesn’t, I’m thinking of adding 3 or four 14v lamps under the layout wired in parallel with the track. Hopefully that will do it, as I don’t want to have to use this tender only for passenger trains (don’t have any steam era cars currently, though that may be a good excuse to add to the roster).
I guess the moral of this story is that if things don’t work properly, read the instructions Thanks again to all who offered suggestions on my previous post.
J White