Laz has the El Captan too and commented favorably on it in the past, even posted pictures somewhere.
Jack.
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
I bought the power conversion kit by Bachmann for the Williams F-7 and it runs a whole lot faster than the original Williams(pre-Bachmann) does. Maybe the problem I have is that I am pulling two unpowered F-7's, and that is holding back on my motive power(an A & a B unit), with my powered F-7 along with the six passenger cars for the Santa Fe "El Capitan" train set. My transformer is a post war 275 watt ZW, same results with an MTH Z-1000 transformer.
With my original set of El Capitan passenger cars and F-7's, I now have two powered F-7's by Williams. I had a third F-7 diesel for the Pennsylvania RR that I swapped the older motors from and put the new motor kit into, I did this to have two F-7's that had the same pulling power.
Maybe with some of the really older Williams, say from about 1988 or so, the motors didn't have as much power output as the last couple of years by Williams before selling out to Bachmann. That could be why I got such a great deal on my Williams passenger set of Santa Fe, this set was new inside the box when I bought it.
Lee F.
quote: "The F-7's by Williams(pre Bachmann)need to have two powered units to pull a long(five cars or more) passenger train, at least that is my experiance".
That is NOT the case with later model F7'S or F3's. They will pull anything you throw behind them. My F7 is pre- Bachman and pulls anything.
Roger
I have this Williams E7 A-A set that looks great. I am selling it for $180 so I can buy the Texas Special set that was not available when I bought the UP set.
I own 3 of the Williams Brass Cab Forwards ... which are steam engines . Detail is super high end .. no flat handrails anywhere . There is a huge difference between their diesels and their steamers . They pull almost like 2 engines ... heavy duty construction and reliability that can't be compared to . The jumpiness must be from the control unit in some transfomers as some have said .... none with my Z-4000 MTH transformer . Here's a couple pics of one like mine ... as they say ... a picture is worth a thousand words .....
and you can buy them for about 1/4 or less as the price of the other manufacturers and the others ARE NOT BRASS ..... which puts the williams engines in the HIGH END BRASS category .
The flat stamped metal handrails have always been a turn-off for me. Hopefully Bachmann will re-issue some of the earlier runs with wire ones.
But they are great runners.
I have not experianced what you would say is "jumpy!" Williams do have a little lower starting voltage than most other brands and a CW-80 may help in that regard. The GP-9's (pre-Bachmann) do have a super low starting voltage and will take off like a rocket sled on rails if you give it too much power. The SD-45's take a little more power to start and do better with two powered SD-45's paired together.
The S-2 Pennsy steam engine by Williams is a strong engine and you may run out of rolling stock to put behind it as I had mine pull 30 freight cars.
The F-7's by Williams(pre Bachmann)need to have two powered units to pull a long(five cars or more) passenger train, at least that is my experiance.
As for wiring the motors in series, that is something that I have not done, I need the pulling power or my post war ZW and MTH Z-1000 don't put out enuff volts to wire one in series. What I have done with the F-7's is to take out the reverse boards and install a 6 amp 50 volt bridge rectifier to the motors, with that arrangement I have gained about 5% power over having the circuit board installed. All Williams motors that I have seen are D.C. powered and have diodes in the circuit boards to modify the A.C. to D.C.
I have a Williams (pre-Bachman) GP9 and a BL2. Neither one seems to mind being powered by a CW80.
I did get a surprise when I ran the BL2 for the first time on my loop with a Legacy/TPC set up. I had the minimum starting voltage set up for postwar equipment. The new Williams loco took off at something like 40 scale MPH at that voltage. Re-setting the minimum starting voltage on the TPC to zero solved that issue - I just need to crank the red knob a little more to get the postwar equipment rolling.
Good luck.
The "jumpiness" from start is caused by old postwar transformers which often start voltage off at 6-7 volts, or more in some transfomers. Williams engines will cruise at 7 volts with a Z-1000 or at 10 with a post war transformer. Old post war engines needed more juice to get them going. Williams engines do not. With a Z-1000 you can slowly ramp up the power and get a smooth start. Same with the Z-4000. I see no reason why a CW-80 would not run a Williams engine just fine. Although I have seen where Williams recommends a 90 watt transformer, it is not at all neccessary. Williams engines pull only a small amount of amps.
as to being jumpy I wouldn't say that but they do have a higher start speed and a lot higher top end speed than most trains but you can wire them in serries which will fix that problem basicly it will take twice the power to get it going so it will start at a lower start speed and top end is slower also as I don't know anybody that in there home can get a train to do about 200 scale miles an hour around there curves.
I did this to one of my trainmasters so far still need to do it to the other and the GG-1
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
phillyreading Just about any A.C. transformer will power a Williams engine; Lionel, MTH, Atlas, MRC(make sure it is for A.C. trains), K-Line, American Flyer, Marx. ... The only drawback for some people is that Williams don't have command control built-in from the factory. Lee F.
Just about any A.C. transformer will power a Williams engine; Lionel, MTH, Atlas, MRC(make sure it is for A.C. trains), K-Line, American Flyer, Marx.
...
The only drawback for some people is that Williams don't have command control built-in from the factory.
Couple questions about some rumors, maybe those that are posting about the williams they own can confirm or deny.
I have read before that some people say that they are "jumpy" from the start. I dont know if that was due to the transformer that they were using.
I have also heard that Williams run better with a transformer with 90 or more watts? Does that mean that they do not run well with a CW-80?
Just curious about those drawbacks, as I do not have any personal reference. I have been thinking about buying some Williams engines too so this thread is very helpful.
One more comment about Williams or rather a few more I like all my williams I have the only one I have that has a problem is the scale GG-1 and that is the bell/horn doesn't work but plan to put tmcc in it so haven't sent it back to them for that reason why send back to just tear it out a year or so later. Runs great as does my 2 trainmasters one Virginian the other PRR.
So buy a williams and enjoy it. you can if you want get a tmcc upgerade from www.electricrr.com
In my opinion Williams is the BEST engine out there in reliability and price. I only know of one guy who found fault with Williams steamers and he finds something wrong with everything he has bought. The Williams steamers have a weak smoke unit if you love lots of heavy smoke but do not let that deter you. If you shop around you can find William trains at great prices. I own 4 Williams engines and they get the most run time over my Lionel trains. I plan to buy more.
Williams has the best engines for the price, steam or diesel. All Williams have metal gears, so that puts them above most of the compitition. Williams steam locomotives are much better at pulling a long train than most other brands and are very dependable.
I have about 10 Williams engines, mainly diesels; F-7's and SD-45's, and have not had any breakdowns in mechanical or motors. Just about any A.C. transformer will power a Williams engine; Lionel, MTH, Atlas, MRC(make sure it is for A.C. trains), K-Line, American Flyer, Marx.
Currently Bachmann has produced ready to run sets of Williams trains, using an Atlas transformer, and has a small amount of track(not sure who makes the track) included to make a small oval.
You can see Williams on my YouTube site. The Capital Limited site has Williams passenger cars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvNIsOyNiuk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT0HN8BVtiQ
If you click my website below, there are many more photos of the Williams Amtrak Genesis, Wabash Trainmaster, B&O Sharks and Monon BL2. The Amtrak Genesis, Wabash Trainmaster and the B&O Sharks all have ERR Cruise installed.
None of my Williams locomotives or cars have ever been sent in for repair.
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
No videos but I do have about a half dozen Williams locos and they are probably the best conventional locos manufactured. Basically problem free and super strong pullers.
Bill T.
try this http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=williams+trains&aq=f
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