ZW whistle control problem

[mgmlodi]

Does anyone know if using very thin guage telephone wire(copper)to connect my ZW to the track will cause my postwar and Williams trains'whistles and horns to sound intermittently? I used the thin guage wire and everything was great until I ran the trains for a while. Then the trains would pick up speed and no whistle or horn sounds were produced. Is the wire, my ZW, or my engines the cause? Thanks and Happy New Year.

[lionelsoni]

I don't know what caused the whistle problem; but the (postwar) ZW has a 15-ampere circuit breaker; so using anything smaller than 14 AWG is asking for trouble, in the form of a fire.  For example, 24 AWG is good for only about 2.5 amperes.