New WBB Fan, but I Have Some Questions

While I usually install an LED for the head light you could put in a lower wattage bulb that will burn brighter. Wiring the engine in series I think makes a big difference in slower speed operation also you need to put a little more voltage to the engine when you wire it in series which will improve the brightness of the light.

Hi. I'm happy to hear that you are pleased with your new locomotive. Williams are pretty good solid and reliable locomotives, so you should get many years of pleasure from it. Also, they are pretty simple to upgrade, should you wish to fit sound or command control in the future.

 

Let's see if I can help with your questions too.

 

1. These are most likely to be spare bulbs. Although I'm not sure what the wires would be for. I have a WBB locomotive, and that came with bulbs that fit directly into the bulb holders. Could you perhaps post some further details on these? With pictures if possible?

 

2. You will need to buy, or make, a sound activation controller to trigger the bell. Lionel and others make these for use with older transformers that don't have a bell button. Your local train shop, or one of the on-line retailers should be able to help you here. They aren't expensive. An alternative of course, is to use a more recent transformer which has the button built in.

 

3. I'm sure that many have their own favourite brands of oil and grease, so you should get lots of advice here. Probably the easiest thing to do though is to buy one of the maintenance kits that WBB, Lionel and others sell at a very reasonable price. These normally come with oil, grease, a track cleaner and other useful items.

 

4. The main reason for re-wiring the motors is to slow WBB locomotives down a bit, and to make the headlights brighter at lower speeds. If the motors are wired in series, you need more voltage to get the same speed. If you are happy with your locomotive as it is, then I wouldn't worry about changing this overmuch.

 

As an aside, most modern locomotives with can motors are much much quieter than the old open framed motors. You might be surprised at how smooth and quiet modern Lionel locomotives can be.  And the modern sound systems are amazing. 

Many Williams have extra bulbs packed in the box and they usually have spare traction tires. Wire is not common.

You must have the older 275 watt ZW from the post war era, as most new transformers have both the bell & whistle buttons.

 

You don't need to wire anything in series as that voids the warrenty. Get a lower volt or watt transformer to use with the Williams engine.

A good transformer to get if you can find one is the Troller Company's model TAC 2001, it has two different voltage ranges you can use; 0 to 9 and 0 to 18, also has whistle outputs, and two train operation.

 

Lee Fritz

Here is the Lionel button to activate the bell.

 

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com...ton-p/lio-6-5906.htm

"I've read on this forum that some folks rewire Williams engines from parallel to series. The slow-speed operation I'm seeing from this engine out of the box is far superior to what I'm used to. How much improvement would there be?"

 

I use the diode method described here, I do all my Williams this way

 

www.jcstudiosinc.com/BlogShowT...=488&categoryId=

 

The ends of the diode string can be tapped for directional LED head lamps if 5 pair are used.

 

You can also make a headlamp or cab lighting constant voltage described here

 

www.jcstudiosinc.com/BlogShowT...=619&categoryId=

 

A home made bell/whistle button is described here

 

https://ogrforum.com/d...nt/12411751687197586

 

 

 

Dale H