Williams TCA 25th Anniversary Train

[PhilaKnight]

I have the oppertunity of buying a Williams TCA anniversary set. I can't find anything on the set. It's a GG-1 engine and 4 cars. Does anyone know what the going price is and is it even worth looking at.

[dwiemer]

Not sure about actual going price, you may want to do a search on eBay to see what they go for. As to Williams, I have the GG1 and some Pennsy heavyweight passenger cars. They are well made and the engine runs like a singer sewing machine! I paid $145 for the Engine during a Williams special buy and then purchased the Heavyweights from ChooChoo Auctions for $65.00. I have seen the engines selling for close to $200, and suspect the passenger cars would go for upto $100 or so.  Hope it helps, but if you can get this set for under $300, I would seriously consider it.  Williams are made to last.

Dennis

[ADCX Rob]

The loco has one motor, no traction aids, hard wired for one direction only, and can barely pull it's cars.  The coaches are nice castings but the trucks and couplers are pretty cheap.  Very noisy & squeaky - they won't quiet down even with a good lube job. 

A good set for repaint/customization/mods, but not much to offer the operator out of the box.  If you can get two and put both motors in one, you'll be a lot better off.

Rob 

[3railguy]

Unless you want a shelf queen, I would not consider it. This was one of Williams first attempts at O gauge. The engine runs like a dog and the cars don't roll very well at all. You are much better off spending $400 or $500 on a current Williams set that looks and runs great than blowing $200 on a pile of junk.

[PhilaKnight]

Went and looked at it. The boxes where in good shape but when I removed the engine it had some scratches and spots of paint where bad. I didn't even look at the cars. For the price he was asking it wasn't even worth taking them out and looking. Thanks for the info and I'll just save the money for something better thats coming down the line. I've been looking at the new PRR A5 switcher from Lionel's K-line. Comes out in March 08

[sir james I]

PhilaKnight- you made the right decision. That engine and cars=not good at all.

[dwiemer]

Glad I came back and read this thread.  My only experiences with Williams have been good ones.  Glad I know not to entertain this set.

Thanks,
Dennis

[Jumijo]

I've heard that the earlier Williams stuff pales in comparison to their new offerings. I'd like to get a green Williams 2332 GG1 at some point.

Jim

[3railguy]

I've heard that the earlier Williams stuff pales in comparison to their new offerings. I'd like to get a green Williams 2332 GG1 at some point.

Jim

80's Williams stuff is pretty bad by today's standards. Engines had no flywheels or traction tires and the paint decoration left a lot to be desired. Things improved in the early 90's with flywheels and traction tires but the paint was way to thick and shinny. You could order Williams with QSI sounds or Williams own True Blast horn which sounded crappy. The reverse boards had a tendancy to fry when too much load was put on the engine. Williams finally got it all right in the late 90's or early 2000. They began installing 6 amp reverse boards, revised the horn and called it True Blast II (which sounds pretty sweet), and toned down the paint sheen. They also went on a roll adding several new engines to their line. just about any Williams engine made recently is a good solid performer at a decent price. You really can't go wrong. You have to be careful on the secondary market as a lot of their older stuff is being passed off as recent production.