American Flyer Silver Flash 481 Electronic Horn

[Pocono Jack]

Thanks...I'm on it!

[aflyer]

Pocono Jack,

The link below is for a diesel horn actuator on eBay right now:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/American-Flyer-Diesel-Horn-Control-Generator-for-362-B-Units-467-471-476-480-/301062828384?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item4618be3160

And here is another for four of these controls, current price seems very reasonable, but only 1 hour left on the auction:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-AMERICAN-FLYER-XA-11666-Air-Chime-Whistle-Controls-3-Boxes-/121249033348?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1c3b016c84

And here is a third listing for an adjustable whistle/horn control:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/American-Flyer-710-Steam-Whistle-Control-with-Generator-Works-/321291789666?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item4ace7ba562

Good luck in your search.

Aflyer

[Pocono Jack]

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. I located everything I needed to know. I also found out that the correct items for my locomotive are the 1956 Diesel Horn Generator and Diesel Horn Control. Thanks again for helping me out.

[lionelsoni]

An interesting feature of American Flyer sound is that they accomplished it simply by superimposing the audio waveform onto the track voltage.  A loudspeaker in the locomotive or tender just reproduced the sound, with the 60 hertz attenuated by the capacitor that coupled the speaker to the track.

So, whether or not you like the original American Flyer train sound, it is possible in principle to replace the original generator by a modern audio source, driving the track from a low-impedance amplifier inserted in series with the track-power transformer. 

[teledoc]

I am strictly a Lionel Postwar user, but saw your question and did some digging.  I found this link to wiring for the diesel horn, and you will have to hunt down the items to complete your hookup.

http://www.portlines.com/portlinesclinic21.htm

You can search the Web using "Google" or "Bing" with the search criteria of American Flyer Diesel Horn or similar parameters in your search.  There are a few websites devoted strictly to American Flyer, and you may want to contact them regarding how to obtain what you need. 

Good luck, and hope this is of some help.

[Pocono Jack]

I recently purchased a AF Silver Flash 481 locomotive. It runs fine and smooth, no problems what so ever, but I recently read they contain an electronic horn. I did not know this when I bought it and have no idea how to activate it. Is there supposed to be some kind of external button or switch to activate it?