Lionel 2035 and whistle tender 6466W, whistle won't work

That's a little 40W transformer with no voltage boost for blowing the whistle.  By itself it will consume enough power to blow the whistle because it doesn't have to share it.

Can you borrow a more powerful transformer to try?

John

Thanks John for the quick answer.

Over here it's very difficult to get 0/027 material and shipping costs from the US are very high at the moment due to the Covid crisis.

Which transformer would you suggest? It should have a whistle button, but no other features. Just a traditional one.

I've collected Lionel and K-Line in the 1990s and now, with a little more time and space I get what I've collected out of the boxes ;-)

Klaus

I am unsure of Germany's power system, but I believe that it is 230VAC @50Hz. A such, I presume that you have a step down transformer to ~110VAC?

A classic Lionel RW or LW would pair nicely with your locomotive and provide not only the necessary whistle button, but the 5V boost needed to compensate for the additional load of the whistle motor. If going big and paying for shipping anyways, a KW or ZW would be the bees knees. While these are labeled as 110VAC 60Hz transformers, there are many reports of users in 50Hz locations that use these just fine (with appropriate voltage modifiers).

@Craftech posted:

That's a little 40W transformer with no voltage boost for blowing the whistle.  By itself it will consume enough power to blow the whistle because it doesn't have to share it.

Can you borrow a more powerful transformer to try?

John

There is a UK Lionel collectors club Facebook group. If you join and ask if anyone has a transformer to part with it will be cheaper to post from UK than the USA.

The link should be this https://www.facebook.com/groups/235679857200015

Hope this might help you.

@bmoran4 posted:

I am unsure of Germany's power system, but I believe that it is 230VAC @50Hz. A such, I presume that you have a step down transformer to ~110VAC?

A classic Lionel RW or LW would pair nicely with your locomotive and provide not only the necessary whistle button, but the 5V boost needed to compensate for the additional load of the whistle motor. If going big and paying for shipping anyways, a KW or ZW would be the bees knees. While these are labeled as 110VAC 60Hz transformers, there are many reports of users in 50Hz locations that use these just fine (with appropriate voltage modifiers).

I am a Flyer person and I can run any Gilbert 110V transformer fine with a stepdown transformer. I also have a ZW which I use on my standard gauge engines and that runs fine over here as well once stepped down.

Yes, like I said, borrow one to try first before over paying for one.   I think that is the problem, but you should verify it.

John

Hi there !

Thanks a lot for all those good ideas to help me.

I've found someone over here in Germany who wants to sell me a Lionel 80W transformer.( http://www.modellbahn-ammon.de )

I'll tell you if it has worked.

Klaus

I would keep searching for a LW at 125 watts.  80 watts is a minimalist transformer. By the way I love a 2035 engines and I often run two on a LW transformer with blocked and relayed loops.  I love LWs and three on my layout.

Charlie

@Choo Choo Charlie, I agree on the CW-80. I specifically did not include it in my recommendations as it does not provide the 5VAC boost that @Klaus Hohmann's 2035&6466W was designed for.

At the moment I've chosen to take the CW-80 at a very good price. For the whistle in 6466W I have a separate K-Line box.

I can look for a more powerful transformer when my layout gets bigger ;-)

Thanks, you all were off great help, Klaus