Railsounds Stopped Working

Check the cherry switch in the engine at the smoke unit. It could be bad or have a broken wire.

Before bothering to play with the chuff switch, can you trigger the whistle or bell in command mode?  If not, you have a problem with the serial data going to the tender.  Top suspect is the tether for this issue.  One problem is the solder joints for the locomotive socket break loose, hitting them with a soldering iron will fix that.  The other problem is the wires break at the connector for the tender connector, that requires a new tether.

With both shells off, use an ohmmeter to check the signal from pin 24 of the R2LC in the locomotive to the serial data connection in the tender on the tether.

I will check the engine tonight.  As far as the whistle and bell, I believe they are working in both command and conventional modes, I will double check that.

Well, then I have to go with the previous suggestion, probably the chuff switch.  If the whistle and bell work in command mode, the serial data is obviously getting to the tender.

I double checked the whistle and bell and they both do work in both command and conventional mode. Checked the chuff switch. I found that the chuff switch is not functioning when being activated by the smoke lever, but if actuated manually it is being activated. I checked for continuity between the leads coming off the chuffy switch.  Also a click can be heard when activating manually and cannot be heard when being activated by the smoke lever.  Can the chuff switch be adjusted to be closer to the smoke lever, can the lever on the chuff switch be tweeked or is just easier to replace the switch? 

Also, i don't know if this is normal or means anything, but in both command  and conventional mode, when the power is cut to the track, railsounds shuts off, no shut down sequence and there is a new 9V battery in the tender.

If you can't move the chuff switch, and that's likely, you can just gently bend the lever to get it working.  I do that before going to the trouble of replacing it.  I've actually only replaced a handful of these, and I've adjusted a ton of them for proper operation.

Try blowing air to ensure it is not dirty, but bending is fine too.  Common problem sometimes.

Make sure harness is good on battery.  Sometimes the wires break.  G

Thanks for the suggestions, I will give them a try and reply how things work out.

Finally got to replacing the chuff switch and all is well now.  One thing I found was that the old chuff switch was covered in a liquid which I assume was smoke fluid.  When I would actuate the switch, fluid appeared to bubble at the seams.  Thanks again for your help and suggestions.

Yep, many of them are right under the smoke unit, and they get the "benefit" of any over-filling.