Do Williams by Bachmann F3 Power Trucks Fit Original Williams F3s?

Matt,

If the spur gear is plastic, that could be the issue. Plastic gears are known to crack. It could also be stripped on the spline, but that is less likely. You can try cleaning out all the grease and then super gluing the gear, but I don't know if it will take, not how long the joint will last.

I would think the WbB parts would be interchangable, since Bachmann bought out Williams and created WbB. The best advice I have is to contact them and ask your questions. They might be able to point you to a parts source.

Good luck!

Chris

P&O

@lehighline posted:

Matt,

If the spur gear is plastic, that could be the issue. Plastic gears are known to crack. It could also be stripped on the spline, but that is less likely. You can try cleaning out all the grease and then super gluing the gear, but I don't know if it will take, not how long the joint will last.

I would think the WbB parts would be interchangable, since Bachmann bought out Williams and created WbB. The best advice I have is to contact them and ask your questions. They might be able to point you to a parts source.

Good luck!

Chris

P&O

Hi Chris,

The spur is definitely metal, not plastic.  It's a bronze color, possibly made of brass.  I should have been more clear in my OP and explained that  I've taken the truck apart and can actually see the spur slip on the axle.  It only does only when there is a bit of pressure against it, but it definitely slips so it seems like is at least partially stripped on the spline.

My previous experience over the years with dealing with Botchmann about problems I've encountered in smaller scales have been unhelpful, so my preference would be to try to find some people who actually know what they are talking about before reaching out to them.

Thanks again!

Matt

Matt:

I would imagine original Williams F3’s and WBB F3’s share the same motor truck.

Having experienced a number of split gears on my Williams diesel engines, I would be 99% certain that’s the problem with your F3.

There have been many posts concerning repair or replacement of these gears over the years. I have replaced a number of these worm gears and it’s not that difficult. I’ve included a link to a post earlier this year where I note the process. That thread also notes that Northwest Shortline (NWSL) carries the replacement worm gear for many Williams diesel engines.

Since I don’t want to lead you in the wrong direction, I would suggest removing the worm gear and measuring both inside and outside diameter. Also count the number of teeth. Double check that information against the worm produced by NWSL. The linked thread will outline how to access the worm gear.

If you have questions, my email is in my Forum profile. I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Curt

https://ogrforum.com/topic/cra...wbb-worm-gear-update

Thanks to Curt’s thread posted above I was able to repair a Williams Genesis with the NWSL gear. Not that hard to do, price is more than reasonable and shipping was very fast. Worth a try. Count the teeth. If its 18 teeth then its likely the same gear.

Pete

It's a sad commentary that Bachmann is letting this division die and they're not doing anything to keep it going with new products or parts! I can't help with the problem, but as far as finding parts? It looks like us train guys will now have to go the way of the old car guys buying up old junkers and stripping them for parts! It seems that this is the way us William's owners will have to do to keep these loco's running. Good Luck

@stubbsO posted:

It's a sad commentary that Bachmann is letting this division die and they're not doing anything to keep it going with new products or parts! I can't help with the problem, but as far as finding parts? It looks like us train guys will now have to go the way of the old car guys buying up old junkers and stripping them for parts! It seems that this is the way us William's owners will have to do to keep these loco's running. Good Luck

Curt's reply was extremely helpful.  I successfully did something similar to repair a N gauge locomotive with a split gear a few years ago, but after than nerve-racking experience (tolerances are extremely small in N gauge!) I vowed never again.  I've sourced a spare geared truck from a donor loco instead for a reasonable price and will use that to fix the problem.  So to your point, yes, we'll keep 'em running with parts wherever we can get them!

Matt

Just an update here.  I was able to purchase an older Williams F7 at an extremely fair price from which I was able to cannibalize a replacement rear truck to fix the problem with my F3.  A couple minor issues I had to deal with:

1.) The newer (circa 2004) F3 I was fixing has trucks that have a small hole in the top them that a small prong on the bottom-side of the motor mount keys into.  (I couldn't think of a better example of a male/female fitting if I tried.)  The older (date of manufacture unknown, but it's an older silver Williams box) F7 trucks, however, do not have the hole on top and so I had to drill one out so the newer motor mount's prong would seat correctly.  Not a big deal, but something for people to consider.

2.) The extension on the end of the older F7 truck onto which the coupler is screwed into is slightly shorter (2-3 mm or so) than the newer F3 truck I was replacing - the trucks are not the same tooling in this regard.  If you are running O27/O31 curves, if you were do the same fix I did (old F7 rear truck replacing newer tooling F3 truck) on both A units and coupled the A units back to back, the couplers are probably going to be too short and the bodywork of the rear of each F3 unit will hit the other on O27/O31 curves.  Fortunately for me, I only replaced the rear truck on the powered F3 A unit and I left the rear truck of the unpowered F3 unit unchanged.  The unpowered unit's coupler mounting truck extension was sufficiently longer enough that when coupled together, the old F7 truck and the newer F3 truck still allowed for enough bodywork clearance, but only just - maybe about 3mm only on O27 curves.  I hope that makes sense but you can contact me directly if it doesn't and I will try better to explain.

Anyhow, the problem is fixed, and aside from a squeak which wasn't there before (which I'm having trouble finding), the F3 A unit is now maybe even better than new and it runs very smoothly and well.

Matt