This regards a friend’s Lionel (TMCC) Norfolk & Western 2-8-8-2 Y-6B, Cab no. 2200, SKU 6-28085 from c. 2003.
He had forgotten his assigned ID # after an extended period of disuse. No battery was installed. We did a reset, assigning ID #22 along with the appropriate code 74. The engine now responds to ID #22, moves forward and backward OK, but there is no chuff. Biggest problem now is that with the volume pot on full (yes, I wiggled it for better contact), the whistle and bell are about 10% of what we’d expect from two fat-boy speakers. I came home baffled.
He just called to say that he installed a fresh 9v battery (even though he never operates in conventional), Now, his, engine apparently produces full sounds (even chuff) as in earlier days. ??? Could there be a problem with a power supply circuit for his Rail Sounds board?
I suggested he keep running the engine with the battery to see if the symptoms return when it goes low or dead. Any thoughts?
You can also pop the chips out of a defective RS4 board and use another one to keep the sounds. If that ends up being the issue, I have either of those boards for a lot less than from Lionel new.
