Carol and I put the Lionel tracks around the artificial Christmas tree a few nights ago. That’s how we do it; the real tree’s position in the great room has no nearby power outlets. Power is a big deal, and never more than this year.
Basically, I connected our vintage Lionel ZW 2-control transformer to the tracks, and…nothing. Did my usual troubleshooting sequence: verify that the outlet is live, verify that the wires are properly connected and not shorted, and with that settled, put a VOM across the power terminals.
Nothing. One of the two ZW pilot lights was on (the other not) so the ZW’s line cord was delivering AC to the ZW. Moving the controls around did not reveal any intermittents. It’s dead, Jim.
The ZW worked fine in 2022 (we didn’t put the trains out last year) and has spent the last two years on a high shelf. Why it failed after sitting unmolested on a shelf remains a head-scratcher. So I went out to my workshop and lugged my 20-pound Alinco DM340MV adjustable DC power supply over to the tracks. I uncoupled the ZW and connected the Alinco to the tracks. The Alinco can deliver clean DC from 0-15 volts, at up to…30 amps. Sure, ok, overkill; the locos we have draw maybe an amp at full speed dragging all the cars behind them.
I turned the very smooth voltage adjustment knob up to about 10V. Clickety-clack went my 2010-era Rail-King Jersey Central camelback steam loco around the tree. Using the voltage control knob, I was able to speed it up and slow it down. Turned it up to 15 volts for a little more speed, and…continuous ringing of the camelback’s electronic bell and whistle. That’s how the ZW works (or worked): when you push the whistle/horn control ring, the voltage goes up a couple of volts, which tells the locos to start their sound effects. By keeping it down to about ten volts, the sound effects go away.
Carol’s 1957 Lionel steam loco makes continuous odd noises even at 10V. But my father’s 98-year-old Lionel 250 electric loco runs like a champ and emits no sound effects at any voltage. It was made in 1926; there were no sound effects in toy trains 98 years ago.
So we now have trains, mostly. It’s too late to buy another Lionel transformer this year, but I loved the ZW and will be hunting around for another in time for Christmas 2025. The Alinco does the job well enough in the meantime. Shame I don’t have any of that 1940-50s lead tinsel…I suspect my (older) readers will know exactly why, heh.
Again, merry Christmas! Get those trains running, guys!
Congrats on getting the Christmas Express running. Alas, I sold my American Flyer trains (sob!) so no train around our tree this year.
Transformers are nearly immortal. I’d be surprised if your transformer is bad. A broken connection is more likely. I’m restoring a 1922 Atwater Kent cathedral radio (as seen on Captain Kangaroo). The tubes are weak, the capacitors leak, the resistors have all changed value… but the transformer is fine.