The Whistle Controller No. 167 would evolve from the pre-war No. 166. The need for this controller began in 1935 when Lionel introduced the first on-board whistle for electric trains. The pre-war versions of this controller were plagued with problems like having to push two buttons at once and frequent burn-outs.

This post-war version is used in conjunction with the No. R, V, and Z Transformers and was available in 1945 and 1946 for use with these transformers. By 1947, all of the Transformers that Lionel was producing included a built in whistle and directional control. However, it is known by the dates on the instruction sheets that production of this controller continued into 1954.

The first Post War instruction sheets that were issued with this controller are numbered 167-29 and are dated 10-45 and there were two printings in 1946 dated 1-46 that were printed with DARK BLUE ink on LIGHT BLUE paper. There is no listing of the Chicago or San Francisco Service Stations on these sheets.

When Lionel added a circuit breaker to this controller the instruction sheet was changed to No. 167-55 in the latter part of 1946. While this first sheet was not dated, other sheets would follow in 4-47 and 9-47 and these sheets are again printed with DARK BLUE ink on LIGHT BLUE paper. The front page of this sheet is shown below.

Sometime in 1948 Lionel began to use WHITE paper for their instruction sheets. Again the first example of the instruction sheet for this controller is not dated. Subsequent WHITE sheets used DARK BLUE ink and are dated 2-50, 6-53, and the last known date is 8-54. On the last issues of this sheet the letter "C" would be eliminated from the title. Lionel followed this same procedure by eliminating the "C" that was stamped on the base plate. The first issues used a bottom plate that were BLACK in color, later issues have depressions in the base. Some base plates were nickel plated, and others have a dull cadmium plated base plate.

Early castings of the bakelite housing had an inverted "T" shape molded into the space between the "REVERSE" and "WHISTLE" buttons on top. Some of the later issues would have ejection pin marks at the four corners of the case top to facilitate service. Latter issues have what is known as a 5/16" diameter "dummy button" that was cast into the housing and is located halfway between the buttons.

There are six variations that were issued during the Post War Period:

Variation A: Found in a box that has the suffix "S" that was built to handle the added current draw of locomotives equipped with a smoke unit. Some of these boxes are found with this suffix printed on only one end. The base plate has two 1/4" depressions positioned equally between the two top base plate screws. Three screws are used to hold this base plate to the bottom of the bakelite casting. Two on top and one on the bottom. There is an "S" stamped into the base between the two depressions. The base has a grainy BLACK finish and the case has the "T" shape on top. Only on this variation are the base plate depressions found.

Variation B: With a BLACK base plate, this variation is identical to Variation A except there is no "S" suffix stamped on the base plate and there are no ejector-pin markings on top.

Variation C: Has the "dummy button" cast into the housing and also has an open front. This reflects a change in the casting where previously the vertical front edge around the buttons was part of the case top, this variation has an upturned extension of the base plate. According to the Lionel Service Manual this change was to facilitate the servicing of the control switch which could be serviced without its removal from the case. This variation has the "T" shape and ejection pin marks on top with a shinny Nickel Plated base plate.

Variation D: Identical to Variation C except without the ejection pin marks on top.

Variation E: Identical to Variation D except has a BLACK base plate and has a "C" suffix stamped on this plate behind the number "167." This designates this plate as belonging to a unit that has a circuit breaker. Lionel would drop the "C" suffix stamped here after the first couple of years of production.

Variation F: Identical to Variation E except with a dull Cadmium Plated base plate. There is no "C" stamped behind the number "167."