Engine Speeds Up When Whistle Button Pressed

[wrmcclellan]

Assuming you are using a PW transformer, the transformer injects a small AC offset voltage (around 5-6 volts as I recall) when you push the whistle button/handle to offset the voltage loss in the old disk rectifiers that produced the DC voltage injected to the track to trip the DC whistle relay in the tender (or horn on diesels).

Since your (assumed) old rectifier may not be working well enough to pull in the DC relay on all your PW trains, the train speeds up more noticeably than when the old style disk rectifier is working properly (and the train typ speeds up a bit in this case).

This is typ not a problem with your PW whistle tender. 

Bob Nelson (lionelsoni) is an expert on this and may comment/clarify this further.

Bob's response re the details from a while back:

http://cs.trains.com/ctt/f/95/p/80974/963192.aspx#963192

For some reason (as usual) the ctt site is not enabling the hyperlink...copy and paste if necessary...

 

 

 

[rtraincollector]

That is normal. When you hit the whistle/horn relay your adding dc voltage which will increase the speed of your engine. 

[gottcent]

Sometimes when operating postwar Lionel trains I press the transformer's whistle button (or move its whistle arm) and instead of the whistle blowing, the train speeds up. Is this more likely caused by a problem in the tender (relay or whistle motor) or in the transformer (rectifier or some other whistle connection)?