I own several Williams locomtives. They are inexpensive, but they are built well with all metal gears. They are extremely reliable, smooth runners that will pull almost anything you put behind them. The decoration (paint and graphics) is first rate. I think they are an incredible deal for the money. The Trueblast II sounds are ok, but truthfully, I'd prefer either an air whistle option for the steamers or an electronic horn like in the old post war diesels.
Jim
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
SchemerBob,
Williams trains are very well built; metal gears, can motors, prototypical designs, reliable, excellent pulling power for the money. For the price you do not get TMCC or DCS control system.
I have six Williams locomotives and have only repaired one once in about nine years. As for True Blast sounds there are at least three differant sound boards that have been made for True Blast, one is a basic, one is for a diesel loco, one is for a steam loco.
Personally I would rate Williams Trains above Lionel & MTH in quality, also I have never had to use the warrenty on a Williams product!
Lee F.
Have 4 of them and all good runners and pullers. No problems. Some people have used them only to run on layouts that allow children to run the trains, and they have held up just fine even after all the abuse.
laz57
Well, of course, this is really your personal call... especially in comparison to other brands. In my opinion, they are wonderful: reliable, near bullet-proof, and a great price - they are what I want: a modern equivalent to what Lionel offered in the 50s-70s.
I would describe them largely as reproductions - not as detailed nor complex electroncially as the equivalent models of other brands. There are a few exceptions to this of course.
I would judge TrueBlast sounds to be adequate - not authetic - my 027 GG1 has a strangled-sounding bell and only a long-long-short-long horn - just like other Williams dis-easels.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
I posted these photos just yesterday on another topic.
This is a Williams Genesis Locomotive where I added TMCC and RS. This brute can pull stumps. The bulb is the only thing that has needed replaced in the last five years.
Note the antenna on the shell.
We added the black tape later and it keeps everything nice and tight especially during a derailment.
We had this open to add tint to the front windows.
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
My favorites are the postwar locos, but they do require quite a bit of maintenance. When I want to run trains for long periods of time or let my grandchildren run trains, I generally put on a Williams engine.
The Williams engines are very geed locos and their reproductions are my favorites. The paint on all my Williams locos are outstanding. I have never had to return a Williams loco for repair. The most work I ever had to do on their engines is tighten a loose screw in a 44-Tonner. I really like the fact that they are much simpler without all the TMCC or DCS electronics. They are just plain fun to run.
Enjoy...
Earl
jaabat wrote: I own several Williams locomtives. They are inexpensive, but they are built well with all metal gears. They are extremely reliable, smooth runners that will pull almost anything you put behind them. The decoration (paint and graphics) is first rate. I think they are an incredible deal for the money. The Trueblast II sounds are ok, but truthfully, I'd prefer either an air whistle option for the steamers or an electronic horn like in the old post war diesels.Jim
Regarding scale.....
How do the Williams locomotives rank on scale? Are they in line with Lionel's traditional size or more on the standard size?
JTaylor801 wrote: Regarding scale.....How do the Williams locomotives rank on scale? Are they in line with Lionel's traditional size or more on the standard size?
My AMTRAK Engine is supposedly scale. I know when it is with the scale MTH passenger cars it looks perfect. I think it may change from locomotive to locomotive.
I bought B&O passenger cars (lionel 9000 seriers) and then got a deal on williams a-b-a sharknoose engine set the engine was way to big it turns out the engine was like scale size so I turned around and bought 6 B&O passenger cars from them there lighted with silouttes in them but there 17.75" long each there great. I also bought there remake of the lionel virginia rectifier set now all that is like it was back in the 50's and 60's its beautiful and I got a set that looks like what you would have to go out and drop big bucks for for about $350.00 (discount I receive from lhs as member of train club)
I'm very happy with williams items and plan to put lionel command and sound in the aba very soon.
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
jefelectric wrote:I have several and never had a problem. They don't have the details of Atlas, MTH and the Scale Lionel but that is either a positive or negative depending on what you are looking for.
Many times when I run the trains for visitors, the lights are dimmed in the train room so that they can see the lighted accessories and passenger cars. Needless to say, you can't see the lack of detail on the Williams Genesis until I turn up the room lights.
Davidvd59,
You will have to settle for a more popular roadname in a Dash 9 if you want a Williams locomotive, the new catalog don't list a Canadian National.
My only complaint with Williams is not the products themselves...they're great! It's the availability. Seems like every loco I want is always out of stock. I've been trying forever to get a Williams FM Trainmaster in Jersey Central green (FM103). I just checked again and the Williams website says out of stock. The other main retailer, York trains, also shows it out of stock.
Dep
Virginian Railroad
http://www.mapajunction.com/
Try here. They are well known for their Williams inventory.
Regarding service, you can't beat the Willaims lifetime warranty. The E unit on a Hudson cooked itself for some unexplained reason. Since I had kept the box that it came in, I just reboxed the loco, enclosed a note explaining the problem, and sent it to Williams. Received it back within two weeks in good as new condition. All it cost me was shipping to Williams.
Poppyl
Davidvd59 wrote:Yes Lee, I know but I would like to see one anyway, the gp doesn't do it. I do agree with the other person about the availibility of Williams trains, and I had to get mine on e-bay. They are hard for me to get ahold of here in Wisconsin also.
I have started to see more Williams for sale at the train shows in Central Ohio. In fact, last fall one dealer had several tables of new Williams. I hope the trend continues.
Bought this Berk to redo for the Pennvalley.
Paul
csxt30 wrote: http://www.mapajunction.com/Try here. They are well known for their Williams inventory.
Thank you sir! But unfortunately, on backorder
There seem to be a misconception, both in this thread and the recent one about parts suppliers (specifically, about Olsen's) that these vendors are substantial brick-and-mortar enterprises. A few may be, but many are not. As I recall from my last catalog Williams mentioned that they only have seven employees. I know for a fact that at least one of their dealers has only one. Some of them have "real" jobs and "do trains" as a sideline. In such cases, a given individual may be a critical employee in the sense that if he or she goes off to York, gets sick, takes a vacation, gets backlogged, etc., things take a (temporary) nosedive. Last year, I heard that at one parts source an obviously critical employee had a baby and customer service may have suffered for a while. In addition, many of the actual manufacturers of both trains and parts are now overseas, as we all know; and availability is subject to the vagaries of international trade and shipping.
That said, I don't see any reason why folks living in Wisconsin* can't find a dealer who can supply what he and/or Williams has in stock, either at Williams in Columbia, MD, or at one of their dealers. For out-of-stock items there may be a considerable wait. In my experience they answer their phone.
Some items, previously cataloged, may be gone forever. This seems to be true of Lionel, MTH and probably all of the rest. In a sense, some catalogs often seem to be little more than trial balloons in that many quite fetching items are never actually produced. It is my impression that Lionel frequently doesn't actually make much of what they catalog until they accumulated sufficient "pre-orders." This can be an extremely disappointing way of doing business.
Some manufacturers have an item-locator function at their website which, while far from perfect, can be helpful. Most such websites also display a list of authorized dealers. If you don't have a dealer locally, see if you can get a peek at an example of a line at a train show. I would consider eBay as a last resort. Two dealers that I have recently visited seem not to have re-stocked after the big Christmas rush. I don't know what's going on, but I don't like it.
If I have learned anything in recent years it is that if you see something you like it, buy it now! It may be very hard to locate tomorrow.
Relatively recent Lionel catalogs often had a full-page photo of the "army" of employees at the Chesterfield, MI, plant. I wonder how many of them are still on the roster now that vitually all production has been moved overseas...?
* Wisconsin is still part of the Union, is it not? It was once a hotbed of toy train folks.
TO BF Skinner
Dealers here in Wisconsin can't (won't) get me specific Williams engines, I have tried. I think my best bet would be e-bay, unless Williams themselves have an item in stock. It is very true that out of stock items have a major waiting period. I gave up listening to excuses from Wisconsin dealers, and order out of state. One thing about Wisconsin people, I can't doesn't necessary mean cannot it usually means will not! Yes I also subscribe when I can afford to with trains, see it now, buy it now, or see it again 10 years down the line!
Dave: I have a similar situation. Only I HAVE NO dealers in my area. So I am pretty much restricted to online dealers or E-Bay. And like you, I have been fairly lucky in getting what I need on E-Bay. Lionel actually made a green JC FM Trainmaster, but it is so expensive on E-Bay for what it is (no Trainsounds and old style motors) , that it's simply not worth what they charge for them. So i haunt E-Bay in the hopes a Williams FM will eventually pop up.
P.S. Here's a Lionel like what I need...
http://cgi.ebay.com/6-8687-Lionel-Jersey-Central-FM-Trainmaster_W0QQitemZ5939454157QQihZ020QQcategoryZ4147QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
Allan makes a good point. Williams, more so than the other manufacturers, tends to produce the same locos in just about the same roadnames year in and year out. Examples include the GP-9's, F's, NW-2's, Hudsons, etc. So if you miss out on one year's delivery, you can usually get what you want the next year. I believe that the new deliveries arrive from overseas in the July/August timeframe and they start filling orders within a month or so after that.
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