Lionel 2-8-4 Berkshire engine

Need to know what specific 2-8-4 you are referring to. Does you engine even have a bell?

It is the Chicago Cubs engine. The instruction manual is dated 1/13. The number on the manual is 71-2000-250.

6 dash number??

OK, after some leg work, your engine only has a air whistle. If you are using a ZW, move the whistle lever only half way. If it doesn't whistle, reverse the leads to the track.

Had to run out but will check it later. Thanks.

I did both but still no whistle. What I did was reverse the two leads on the transformer that feed the track. Also I am using Fastrack so I don’t know if this is the problem.

Is there anyone else who can figure out my dilemma with this engine whistle not working?

There is not much to go wrong. I'm baffled. Wonder if the seller is BS'ing you as far as saying it worked when it was sent to you.

Any other transformer you can try?  Your engine came in a set with a CW80 transformer. Is the whistle totally dead, it doesn't do anything? I would check the wires on the truck pick-ups, unlikely there broken off on both trucks. Possibly the circuit board in the tender that controls the motor is bad. Have your local hobbyshop or a friends layout to confirm it is not your transformer and it works on theirs.

Just for clarity, the classic ZW has two separate independent whistle circuits, one for A-U and one foe D-U. If using A-U to power your track, have you temporarily switched over to D-U? Additionally, polarity can matter. Make sure U goes to the outside rails and A or D to the center rail. In addition, only actuate the whistle switch half way as previously mentioned.

Worse case, take it to a friends layout or a LHS to see if it operates there.

One final thought. Check the ground straps on the trucks. They are very thin metal and are easily bent out of kilter. Be sure they have tension on all the axles.

The whistle does nothing. The only thing the engine does is speed up when I activate the whistle. The ground straps are on the back truck only. I have switched the connections on the transformer also.

I think you have done all you can do. Time for a service person to look at it. Possibly a broken wire inside the wire nuts. I assume the whistle control on the ZW works with other whistles.

Open it up. From what I recall that engine is several years old at least. Pretty sure not under warranty anymore. Could be something easy like a loose wire or the motor stuck.

Try a Lionel cw80 transformer; I do not think a postwar ZW plays nice with an electronic whistle relay in the tender. Falcon70

If the whistle is in the tender why am I looking in the engine for the problem? Shouldn’t I look in the tender?

Nobody has told you to open up the locomotive?  Suggestions were to check the ground straps on the tender trucks. And I suggested to open up the tender and check for loose wires or maybe a stuck motor/impeller in the tender. 

Doesn’t the CW80 have a triac, while the PW ZW has disc rectifier? Decades of different technology. Does this Berk have an electronic bell too? Do you have a separate bell or whistle button? As some others have eluded to, this is a 60-some year old transformer and 3-ish year old tender electronics. The e-unit would work with any break in power. I’m not sure if there’s anything wrong other than the ZW won’t make the whistle work. Do you have any postwar whistles or horns that do work with your ZW? Maybe go to the Lionel web site and send an email to Lionel through “ask Lionel”. Can you take the tender to an LHS and ask them to test it?

Hi:  I am not certain from the discussion but it sounds like this locomotive has the air whistle.  I have serviced a number of these units which usually fail with the whistle being on constantly due to a short in the Darlington transistor which acts as a switch activated by the dc voltage from the whistle control.  It is possible the transistor could have failed as an open which would create the problem you are seeing.  Note that this only applies if the unit is using the modern era air whistle.  I don't remember the exact part number of the transistor, but it does contain the nomenclature "A13" in the type number.

The ZW works on all my other engines that have a whistle. The tender has an air whistle but no bell. The eunit works fine on the engine and the transformer does also. I contacted Lionel a few days ago but you know how they are about answering questions. I am going to open the tender and see if there are any loose wires. Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

Here's the set that your engine is from - 7-12000 - if you look at tender only parts - there is a pcb board that operates the air whistle. 

Look for a broken wire like you planned. Check the pick-up wires to the trucks.

This was designed for the higher DC offset to operate the whistle by Lionel as the set came with a CW-80.

I turned the tender over and there are 2 screws in the center that are easy to remove. However I found 4 more hidden under the trucks that are going to be difficult to remove. I looked at the manual hoping it would tell which screws hold the shell to the frame but no luck. Which screws hold this tender together?

Nick DiSandro posted:

I turned the tender over and there are 2 screws in the center that are easy to remove. However I found 4 more hidden under the trucks that are going to be difficult to remove. I looked at the manual hoping it would tell which screws hold the shell to the frame but no luck. Which screws hold this tender together?

The Parts pictures will help you - follow the link I posted above in Blue - anyway - there is one each on the corners of the shell - click on to enlarge

Thanks Carl. That’s what I was afraid of because there are located in a difficult location.

Nick DiSandro posted:

Thanks Carl. That’s what I was afraid of because there are located in a difficult location.

You should get enough space by rotating the truck - a magnetic tip #2 Philips should get in there

Would a 1033 transformer work the air whistle on this engine instead of a CW80 or would I have the same problem as the ZW?

All properly serviced, any of the transformer combinations (or similar) should work just fine.

The ZW and 1033 use the same basic circuitry to operate the whistle. In my experience, the DC offset generated by postwar transformers isn't always enough to operate modern era whistles.  Years ago, when I was in communications with Lionel on this problem, they sent me a couple of their current external whistle controls to resolve my issue.