Has Williams Changed their Designs

Dennis L,

I agree with you about the WBB handling of Williams products. It seems that Bachmann has cheapened the Williams line somewhat by using left over electronics and using plastic moldings for horns on certain models.

The only things that WBB has made new is the Peter Witt trolley and the GP-30's! Everything else is pretty much a left-over with new electronics added.

Maybe Bachmann is trying to sell down some left over stuff and will have some new items in April or May of this year. WBB is working on a new True Blast Plus system that will be made to fit older Williams engines as well, no costs have been released or production dates.

However prices in the new catalog have risen quite drastically!!

Lee Fritz

I started buying Williams trains about 14 years ago at a train show in Port St. Lucie FL. They have good quality for the price, maybe not always accurate on the model(GP-38's and certain railroads) and cab number but very good quality when it comes to design and being reliable runners.

Over the years Williams has used many different circuit boards, to include QSI, for the motor control. Also the truck assemblies on passenger cars have changed a bit even when Jerry Williams the owner of Williams Trains still owned the company having his name.

My main pet peeve is the lack of caboose models, how many N5C cabooses can somebody sell??

Lee Fritz

Bachman has not cheapened anything.......upgraded some things at WbB. The F-7 are very old molds that go back 40 years or so. Find a late 1980's era Williams F-7 in PRR paint. Color not correct, no 5 stripe tampo and wrong font on the "Pennsylvania" on the sides.(never had anything but plastic horns details)

Early Williams had bare metal chassis in a bright silver.....did not look good at all. Late Williams and WbB have blackened chassis. WbB is a mix of very old tooling and some much more recent tooling. Check out my WbB FA-1 which are more recent tooling.

Lots of added details......grab irons, wire mesh in sides very nicely painted and tampo.

All in all Bachman has done a good job with Williams......but we will have to see where it goes from here.

If by "lower" you mean lower in volume (as opposed to lower in pitch), that ought to be easily fixable.  My TB II sound units (both horn and whistle) have a potentiometer that can be adjusted to change the output volume.

To adjust the newer volume switches or potentiometers you must clean the wax coating or something off of them first or you will not get any results from an adjustment of it.

Lee Fritz

It is a lower volume horn that I am concerned with. Thanks for the tip. I'll take the cab off and try that adjustment. As for the plastic horns, I see that your engine has those too. I wish that they would spend the extra few cents and install metal horns as they look so much nicer. The MPC type F3 horns with the studs fit fine and fasten with a couple of drops of epoxy applied with a toothpick.

The adjustment seemed to have worked. Volume is fine now.  Its a matter of finding the sensitive "sweet spot" on the adjustment. There was no wax or lacquer coating on the screw so it may have shook loose. Also added grab irons on the front (around the simulated from door) for improved looks. 

Anyone know if Williams always used stamp sheet metal frames on the F units?  That seems like another economy measure. 

As I stated above....early Williams F-7 units had a bright silver stamped metal chassis. It would show below the body...looked awful. I took mine apart and painted them.

Regarding the horn issue mentioned above, the horns of most locomotives were/are painted the base color of the units' bodies so the fact Bachmann is providing models with horns already painted would be considered an enhancement by those of us interested in increased accuracy.

Bob   

Did some research on the subject and surprisingly the horns were painted most (but not all) of the time on F unit diesels. While the painted horns are realistic;  on a model train, for my taste the silver metal horns look better. One thing for sure that KBW F7 is a VERY strong puller and its motors are about half the size of the AC pullmore. They won't last as long and they are not very repairable but with those rubber tires they do a good job on the grades.

Gentlemen,

  In reality it all depended on which Engine was being built and in what Williams era the engine was made, what kind of trim, hornes and painting was offered.  If you look at my original Williams GG-1 the detail was fantastic, right down to the metal all silver horn.  The WBB has changed little so far, we will see what they do in the near future,

however.

PCRR/Dave

Actually, the F-7 molds came from the old AMT company around 1951 or so. That was 63 years ago. They hold up well considering their age.

If the OP does not like the sheet metal frame, try the F-3, which is a copy of Lionel's F-3 and has a die cast frame.

Thanks...I knew it was older....and was cut by owners two or three owners back from Williams. At 63 they do come out OK......the Williams E-7 are must better shaped but MUCH newer too!