# American Flyer Electronic Whistle Control



## trainman 2015

I recently picked up one of these units. Looking at the unit everything seems to be there. There was no no manual or other information with the unit. Besides the AC power cord there are 3 wires coming out of the back, one black and two light colored. Does anyone have any information and/or a manual for this unit? I am wondering how to connect and use it. Thanks.


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## Big Ed

trainman 2015 said:


> I recently picked up one of these units. Looking at the unit everything seems to be there. There was no no manual or other information with the unit. Besides the AC power cord there are 3 wires coming out of the back, one black and two light colored. Does anyone have any information and/or a manual for this unit? I am wondering how to connect and use it. Thanks.


I have no Flyers.

Is that the billboard whistle?
If so go to page 31 here, http://americanflyerexpress.com/Ame...es/American Flyer 1954 Instruction Manual.pdf

Not much but something.
It looks like the middle is not hooked up?


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## Big Ed

Whoops, if that is it it is on page 33 not 31.


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## Big Ed

Here is a better diagram, (from a different site.)
http://www.portlines.com/portlinesclinic21.htm

Edit, maybe not that is for am air chime?


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## T-Man

Good one Ed. I found this link with a page on whistles.


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## Big Ed

T-Man said:


> Good one Ed. I found this link with a page on whistles.


That one is better. 

All the Flyers guys are cooking turkey.


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## trainman 2015

This is not a billboard unit. This unit is the silver/grey slanted top metal box. It has one knob on the front. There is a tube in the inside.


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## T-Man

e 4,5, and 6 has the hook up information. I am not sure if it does the sound or if it activates a certain whistle.


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## Aflyer

Very interesting thread, I think we need more info from the OP.

I can't figure out what Whistle Controller has an AC cord plus 3 other wires.

Is there a number on it, or can you post up a photo of the unit?

Thanks,

Aflyer


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## trainman 2015

There is an identical unit presently listed on E Bay. Item 121820299643. There are several different views of the unit shown. Hope this helps identify the item and get more information.


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## T-Man

This shows it in action.


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## AmFlyer

It is listed by Gilbert only as the Electronic Whistle Control Box. It can be used with any of the air chime whistle locomotives to produce a more realistic sound than the standard controller. Its instruction sheet is M2852A.
The 710 Steam Whistle Control was also made as an attempt to get a more realistic tone from the tender reproducers. The 710 does not require line voltage. Neither were big sellers.


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## Aflyer

trainman 2015 said:


> There is an identical unit presently listed on E Bay. Item 121820299643. There are several different views of the unit shown. Hope this helps identify the item and get more information.


Trainman,
I looked at that listing you provided, and then found another one, with a box. Never mind the box is for an 8B transformer, that doesn't help much, eBay # 272053140645.

I checked my Doyles book, and my Greenberg's book, and could not find it in either of them.
Aflyer


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## Big Ed

I found this, I don't think it will help you any but thought you might like the pictures,
http://thegilbertgallery.org/Infrastructure Gallery/infrastructure_Electrical_Accessories.html


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## llskis

T-Man said:


> This shows it in action.


T-Man: Thanks for the video. Question: The Steamer in the picture: Is that a 334DC ? Also have you tried that control with a newer type Steamer like the 336?? Larry


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## Big Ed

llskis said:


> T-Man: Thanks for the video. Question: The Steamer in the picture: Is that a 334DC ? Also have you tried that control with a newer type Steamer like the 336?? Larry


Is it just me?
That doesn't sound like much of a whistle? Sounds more like a noisy e unit?
Are they working right? :dunno:


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## AmFlyer

The bad news big ed is that is what a Gilbert air chime whistle sounds like. The good news is our reversing units are quiet and never sound like that.


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## llskis

big ed said:


> Is it just me?
> That doesn't sound like much of a whistle? Sounds more like a noisy e unit?
> Are they working right? :dunno:


Big Ed:
One must remember the whistle control is putting out a DC signal on a DC powered track.
This was very hard trick:appl: to do in 1950. Surprised it even worked that well. Larry
P.S. Not even sure this is done today with all the modern day electronics.


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## AmFlyer

Larry, your comment "this was a very hard trick" made me chuckle since A C Gilbert was an amature magician and started out making magic tricks pre packaged for sale. 
You make an interesting point about the whistle control. I do not have one in my collection to check. I made the assumption the demo video posted was on AC track power since the engine/tender appears to be a 324AC. Of course the track power could still be DC. Back in 1950, those who got a 334DC set requiring DC track power discovered the whistle did not sound even this good unless they purchased a separate sale #18 Filter. On balance this was a very expensive item to produce that provided a poor result. I also was not aware Gilbert designed the Whistle control to output DC. Since the signal is a 660Hz tone in order to be a DC output the tone signal would have to be superimposed on a DC offset voltage equal to 1/2 of the peak to peak voltage of the 660Hz tone signal. Complicated indeed!


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## PhoebeSnow

I have a 334 DC Northern that my Dad purchased in the in the early 50's. It has the Electronic Whistle in the tender and I have the Electronic Controller pictured in the video above. The whistle in the tender doesn't work and after hearing it I'm not motivated to get it working. It sounds just as bad as the one in my 325 AC Hudson.


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## Aflyer

llskis said:


> T-Man: Thanks for the video. Question: The Steamer in the picture: Is that a 334DC ? Also have you tried that control with a newer type Steamer like the 336?? Larry


llskis,
Can you repost the video, or send me a URL?? I am using a MAC if that makes a difference, but I can not find the video.

Thank you,
Aflyer


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## Big Ed

Aflyer said:


> llskis,
> Can you repost the video, or send me a URL?? I am using a MAC if that makes a difference, but I can not find the video.
> 
> Thank you,
> Aflyer


This work?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp6uxqKB6PM


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## Big Ed

big ed said:


> I found this, I don't think it will help you any but thought you might like the pictures,
> http://thegilbertgallery.org/Infrastructure Gallery/infrastructure_Electrical_Accessories.html





trainman 2015 said:


> There is an identical unit presently listed on E Bay. Item 121820299643. There are several different views of the unit shown. Hope this helps identify the item and get more information.


So it IS the first one pictured in the link I provided?
Same as the one e bay, here is a picture for the sites records.
The guy on e bay stated he searched for a while and could not find any hookup info on the item.

Picture for the S forum.


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## Big Ed

Has this been posted yet?
I searched for less then 5 mins and found this.


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## Big Ed

llskis said:


> Big Ed:
> One must remember the whistle control is putting out a DC signal on a DC powered track.
> This was very hard trick:appl: to do in 1950. Surprised it even worked that well. Larry
> P.S. Not even sure this is done today with all the modern day electronics.


I think I would rather have a noisy e unit then a whistle that sounds like a noisy e unit.


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## Aflyer

big ed said:


> This work?
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp6uxqKB6PM


big ed,
That link works great, thank you very much. Sorry we can't say the same about the Gilbert horns/whistles.
I tried one of mine a few years ago, I think it was in a K325, or a 336, and it sounded bad, just as bad as the ones in the video, LOL.

Thanks again,
Aflyer


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## flyernut

You da man, Big Ed.. Both yourself and GunrunnerJohn are the tops....Thanks for all those posts...By the way, when I was a little kid, we had a K335 with the air chime whistle.. it worked great but sounded like a pregnant bee. I used to use a remote un-coupler for a "horn". Sounded just as bad, but what the hey..:appl:


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## trainman 2015

*American Flyer Electronic Whistle Control wiring connections*

I had previously written asking about how to connect one of these units for use. I am a retired electronics technician so I decided to "tear into" one of the units to try to figure things out.
What I came up with is as follows. There are supposed to be 3 wires besides the AC cord coming out of the back of the unit. Black, Red and Yellow. Apparently the Red wire fades over time to look much like the yellow wire. I found there are a couple of ways to find out which wire is which. If you remove the cover from the unit and trace the wires, the Red wire is the one connected to one lead of a capacitor. The Yellow and Black wires both connect to the switch on the front of the unit. Another way to find out is to check the continuity of the wires, if you have a tester or VOM/ ohm meter. The Black and Yellow wires will show continuity or a short between them. There should be no continuity between the Red wire and the Black and/or Yellow wire. Once I found which wire was which, I used a permanent marker to color the entire Red wire so it will be easy to know which wire to connect where. The wires from the unit should connect as follows: Black to Base post on the transformer, Yellow to one post on the track terminal, Red to 7-15 volt post on the transformer. Connect another separate wire between the 7-15 volt post on the transformer and the other post on the track terminal. Assuming the unit works, as there is an old style vacuum tube inside it which can fail over time, this should get you going. Hope this helps out anyone who has one of these units and is trying to connect and use it.


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## longle

Big Ed, that wiring diagram is for this air chime controller.










Larry


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## Aflyer

Trainman 2015,
I contacted a friend of mine, "Banker Bill" from ACSG Carolinas Division and he came up with the documents you have been searching for.

The first is the Wiring Hookup diagram, and the second is a service document from A.C. Gilbert. Pretty nice documents that should help you out with your Whistle Controller.

Happy reading,
Aflyer


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## longle

Excellent, thank you! I have massaged and cleaned up both docs for my own use but if it's OK and anyone is interested I can post them, with Aflyer's permission.

Larry


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## Aflyer

longle said:


> Excellent, thank you! I have massaged and cleaned up both docs for my own use but if it's OK and anyone is interested I can post them, with Aflyer's permission.
> 
> Larry


Larry,
I think that will be fine. Credit goes to Banker Bill, as these documents came from him. And I checked with him to be sure it was ok for me to post them, prior to adding them to the thread.
Aflyer


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## longle

OK, thanks, here they are.


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## flyernut

To all my good friends here... I have 3 reference books that I use, one almost exclusively. The best book money can buy is the "Complete Service Manual for American Flyer Trains". It has all the info you'll ever need, including diagrams, part numbers, and trouble-shooting. It's the best Christmas present Santa has brough me in a long time.. It's very pricey now, if you can find it, at about $75-$80 bucks.. K-Line produced it... I'd be lost without it...


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## AmFlyer

I also have the K-Line book and have put it to good use. 
Please keep in mind that the entire Gilbert factory service manual is on line at myflyertrains.org.. The whistle controller posted above is pages 4 and 5 in the Whistle control chapter. It does not have the nicely colored wires as in the posting above.


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## longle

I have the original Aurotech edition published in 1978, always stored in plastic and still in near mint condition. Bought it new in 1978. So imagine my surprise last year when I looked something up and discovered, after all these years, there was a complete 12 page signature missing from the book. Only took me 36 years to find that. Who says I'm slow? 

Larry


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## Aflyer

flyernut said:


> To all my good friends here... I have 3 reference books that I use, one almost exclusively. The best book money can buy is the "Complete Service Manual for American Flyer Trains". It has all the info you'll ever need, including diagrams, part numbers, and trouble-shooting. It's the best Christmas present Santa has brough me in a long time.. It's very pricey now, if you can find it, at about $75-$80 bucks.. K-Line produced it... I'd be lost without it...


flyernut,
I have that book, bought it about 10 years ago, it is a 2003 printing which I think I paid $30.00 for. I just couldn't find the hookup diagram for Trainman's whistle controller when this thread started, LOL.

Aflyer


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## Aflyer

longle said:


> OK, thanks, here they are.


longle,
Nice job cleaning up the doc's.
Thank you,
Aflyer


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## longle

Glad to help. It's a carryover from what I do with radio schematics and docs. 

Larry


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## AmFlyer

Mine is the 1983 reprint of the 1978 copyright edition. It is well used but in excellent shape.


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## flyernut

Just checked mine. It's a 2003 reprint of 1978.


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