# Air Chime Whistle



## trainman 2015 (Jan 17, 2015)

Is there anyone who knows a lot about or is an expert on AF Air Chime Whistles.I have a question about AF Air Chime Whistles and the sounds they make. I can remember playing with my older brother's AF trains some 40 years ago. From what I can remember the whistle seemed to produce a good quality, even realistic sound. My brother's trains went with him when he married and moved out. I have always had an interest in trains. Now that I am looking at retiring and will have time to enjoy them, I have been purchasing, repairing, restoring AF trains, especially steam locomotives. I have purchased several AF Air Chime Whistle generators and control units. The sound of the air chime whistle produced by the steam locomotives does not seem to be anywhere near what I remember. Before retiring, I was an electronics technician. I have a pretty good idea of how the Air Chime Whistle is supposed to work and the theory behind it. Is there a way to adjust and/or improve the quality of the sound produced by the AF whistle generator and the electronics in the tender? Has anyone else done any work and/or experimenting on this? Thanks.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

The S men will give you help.
But it may take till tomorrow.

I never had one, I am mostly a Lionel person.

They were talking about it here,

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=26328


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Make no mistake, those "air chime whistles" leave a lot to be desired.The ones in my 2 Northern's sound the same, as well as the one I had as a kid back in the late 50's. Nothing like the Lionel whistles.


----------



## PhoebeSnow (Mar 1, 2014)

My air chime whistle in my 325AC sounds like an old door buzzer. I thought the tube was bad since it was 60 + years old so I replaced it with a rebuilt one from Port Lines and it still sounded the same. The guys on this forum told me that was about the best I was going to get. I'm still trying to get the Electronic Whistle to work in my 334DC to see if it sounds any better but to date no luck.


----------



## llskis (Apr 11, 2013)

PhoebeSnow said:


> My air chime whistle in my 325AC sounds like an old door buzzer. I thought the tube was bad since it was 60 + years old so I replaced it with a rebuilt one from Port Lines and it still sounded the same. The guys on this forum told me that was about the best I was going to get. I'm still trying to get the Electronic Whistle to work in my 334DC to see if it sounds any better but to date no luck.


FWIW:

I think all of A/F Whistles or Air Chime terminology is confusing. With the exception of the built in whistle (314AW) all A/F whistles are nothing but diesel sounding horns at best. 
Below is the 1950 Whistle control for the the 334DC/324AC Steam Loco's. I will be starting my project on this and will report back. Larry


----------



## trainman 2015 (Jan 17, 2015)

I have heard that the mechanism inside the metal tube on the control unit can be "tuned" to help and/or improve the whistle sound. I have one of the tubes apart on my bench. I have been doing a little experimenting with the positions of the contacts to see if that changes anything. The inside of the metal tube is basically a vibrator mechanism which produces an AC
current which is sent through the track to the circuitry in the tender which produces the sound. This is very similar to what was used in the old tube type car radios of years ago to change the DC battery power to a form of AC current to produce high voltage to run the elements of the tubes. I may try using a scope to see what if anything changes when the contacts are moved around.


----------



## Nuttin But Flyer (Dec 19, 2011)

I think just about everyone here agrees, the air chime whistle sounds nothing much better than a door buzzer at best. Sorry to say they were not very realistic. However, if you wish to use it in a diesel engine, at least it is closer...


----------

