Lionel 6466W Tender Electrical Problem

[ssorrell]

Hello,

I'm new to all this stuff, so please bear with me

I have what appears to be either a Lionel 6466W or 6466WX whistling tender that I have been repairing. When I apply electricity to the track, the tender will not whistle. However, when I hold the tender upside down in my hand, and apply current with two wires from the transformer, it whistles. When I perform the same operation with the tender in my hand, but right-side-up, there is no whistle.

I took the tender apart again to look more carefully and found that there appears to be an electrical component, transformer, or whatnot, mounted next to the whistle motor and fan. At the bottom of this piece is a small metal switch that appears to be open, but closes when I turn it upside down, which is the reason for what I observed in the first place.

My question is, should this switch, under normal operation, close itself due to an electrical magnetism, when current is applied? If this it not happening, are there any suggestions as to the cause, or possible a solution to the problem?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Scott Sorrell