Let me begin by saying that I was advised by some here not to do, not to buy a Williams, that is specifically to go with my K-Line heavyweights. But owing to cost considerations I did so anyway. The GS-4 seems to be a bit of a throwback, all metal, heavier, no chuff sound, and effectively but simply detailed. I knew this stuff. What I didn't know is that compared to my other engines this thing is a race horse. At comparable settings, I run conventional, it goes much faster. The whistle is preset and toots out its 4 or 5 bars, but it sounds good. Well, its sounds OK. The bell is a metal clank. Fit and finish on the engine is attractively simple. The thing exudes reliability like the old time clippers my barber used to use. And the color match with my K-Line cars is good enough. This Williams engine reminds me of a farm boy come to visit his cousins in the city. Plain, brutish, and capable of getting the job done.
Included in the photo is a pretty good view of about half of my smallish layout. Hey, we do what we can, right?
Micheal I own one of these as well as several other Williams steam engines and both of their girls sets and I agree these are race horses. they will run and run however the smoke units in these do go bad rather quickly. the answer to this issue is either replace the unit with the factory type from Bachmann or there is a fellow who has modified lionel fan driven smoke units that he sells for these engines. if you would like i can give you the information.
