Too funny! But clever I guess in a Rube Goldberg-ian sort of way. An external momentary switch was apparently out of the question for its prior owner.
IT consultant by day, 3rd generation Lionel guy (raising a 3YO 4th generation Lionel Lil' Man) by night in the suburbs of the greatest city in the world - Chicago. Home of the ever-changing Illinois Concretus Ry.
Worse problem: Somebody hard wired the transformer to only sound when button pressed. Guess they used it as an accessory transformer? One contact had been removed.
I think I saw the same question on another board. The problem is most likely the contacts in your whistle switch. clean the contacts and check their tension. It could also be that your whistle switch isn't returning all the way to its resting position.
I have a Lionel 1053 transformer, recently pulled it out to sub for a 1033 on one of my layout loops till I get the cord replaced, and tried to run the trains. Nada. Nothing. Zilch. That's what I got when I opened up the throttle. Fiddled with everything to make sure there weren't any shorts. None I could find. Then, on a whim, with the throttle open, I pressed the whistle button. VWOOSH! That engine went flying, and I was scratching my head. Anyone ever encountered this problem before? Any idea what causes it? How do I fix it? I would rather not have to hold the whistle button down every time I want to run a train on that loop.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month