Help with my older Williams 4-8-4!

Those Brass Williams locos included the tool and maybe one extra side rod screw in the packaging, You might want to contact Art Boynton at http://the-scaled-tin-rail.com/

They were the one's that did the customized Williams locos and would probably have the part.

Bill you can take that screw off the opposite side and go to a place that sells only fasteners I'm sure there's one in your area . They can tell you the size and thread count and may even have the same screw or at least one that will fit.

David

Bill:  I have the brass Williams "Daylight" 4-8-4 from 1990.  This is really the same engine as your N&W J.  While having it converted to TMCC by Weaver Models (Gary, Head of Service), he replaced/repaired a side rod.  Give Gary a call, he may be able to help with yours.

          paul m.

This is a curious state of affairs, Bill.

What kind of a service department could not replace a missing screw and a pair of traction tires? That's amazing to me. Were there any other issues with the loco that could have been the real reason they didn't fix it?

If I did factory service and could not find a replacement screw, my boss would certainly have something to say about it. if i was the boss and an employee could not find a replacement screw, i would REALLY have something to say about it.

Something tells me that the screw is not the entire story.

Maybe Bachmann only works on the current issue die cast 4-8-4 locos and did not realize the one you were sending in was an old brass scale loco.

Still, sending it back to you without being able to find one measly screw? Amazing!

Maybe a post on the two rail forum would reach an enthusiast who could provide the correct size screw.

You don't have to go through the whole story, but you could just ask if anyone had one.

Williams made brass locomotives for only a few years.  Now they are owned by a totally different company and according to a post on the Bachmann/Williams forum, they ran out of spare parts a long time ago.  The only parts they had in stock when they still had them were the limited number of things the factory gave them.

I would think that you should be able to find a suitable replacement screw locally, even if it's a metric size.

One thing you could do is take one of the other side rod screws to a local hobby shop that caters to the RC aircraft crowd. They usually have a good selection of this kind of hardware, as well as metrics taps, etc.

Rod

Get in contact with Frank Vacek.  He did prototype work for Williams in the 80's & 90's and I purchased repair parts for their older brass locos about 10 years ago.  He has a lot of parts and may have what you need.  I have contact info if you need it (he is in the TCA directory).

Thanks all for your replies! If I could remove another side rod screw, I'd check out the size, but I cannot find a tool in which to remove the screw.There was not one in the Williams box. I doubt if anything else is wrong with my "J". It was running just fine, then started a quick hop and derail. All I found was a missing side rod screw. (I searched hours trying to find that "LITTLE"Bugger)I understand that my "J" is rather old and not been made in years and that the "NEW" Williams by Bachmann would most likely have the part, but they thought they did, but guess not. Thanks Paul M. & Jon G. for the idea of contacting Weaver. I'd do so first thing Monday!

Bill

Jon G, I cannot figure out how to message you directly thru the forum, so you can email the Weaver contact to WRBUTCHER2000@YAHOO.COM

Many thanks,

Bill

For the tool, get yourself a set of miniature nutdrivers, available at hobby shops or electronics suppliers. I'd start with a metric set. My guess would be it's around 3mm, but that is just a guess. If a metric doesn't fit, try a set of inch-type nutdrivers. They don't cost much and they are handy to have when you are working on trains. If you have a digital caliper you can mike the head and be sure of the size. You can also get yourself a thread gauge - they are extremely handy when working on locomotives with unknown size screws. There are separate ones for inch and metric. Mine are called Screw Chek'r or something like that - I got them from Brownell's, a gunsmith supply house, but they are widely available at tool supply houses.

I took a look at my Williams Dreyfuss Hudson to see if maybe it used the same kind of screws on the rods, but that one uses slotted heads. 

I had the same issue with my williams niagara, went to a hobby shop that was heavy into RC cars and they had a huge selection. I had to go with a hex head and i believe it was metric maybe 2.5mm. I took the screw from the other side to the shop. hope this helps. Mark