Chuck Sartor posted:In my humble opinion, the TW is Lionel's worst postwar transformer. It has several issues, is why the short production lifespan. The two transformer cores in one case turns out wasn't the best idea. It is the only time Lionel tried that idea. The wiring was revised once, and that still didn't help. First is the transformers overheating. TW's have a issue with that. For some reason it is usually the aux. transformer, but not every time. Second is the heat from the overheated transformer core travels up the die cast metal control shaft and warps the large plastic handles. This is most noticeable on the whistle control handle, it will get hung up on the plastic case and not return on it's own. Lionel later used the molded case for the somewhat scarce SW. I too, would recommend a LW instead.
I dunno.
I have two of them on Warrenville and never felt them heat up, or have the warping, as you describe.
