New WBB J-Class

I had a similar experience a few Christmas' ago with a WBB Train Master.  I wound up sending it back to the dealer for a replacement unit, and had no problems. 

I have a WBB scale Hudson, and I can say that the WBB smoke fluid works better than the Lionel and MTH fluid I have.  The Suethe unit seems to "choke" on them.

Smoke: the company that offers the product knows more about it than anyone else -

follow the instructions about the smoke unit. Why would they have mentioned it

otherwise? (Not to get filthy rich on smoke fluid sales.) Instructions are like cookbooks: follow them.

Volume: there may be a volume potentiometer (pot) on the sound board; open the tender

and look for a slotted thingy (technical term) on the sound board. Gently turn it with something plastic, if its there.

Light: Williams headlights are notoriously dim in some locos under conventional operation;

not sure about the 4-8-4. Also, the shell comes off easily; open it up and look for

the obvious: bad or mis-placed/loose bulb, loose connection.

BTW, as on some other Williams die-cast steamers, the center-rail roller arm/frame 

often has a sharp, pointed shape at the end; these can catch of -some- brands of switches, causing the loco to jump/bounce/look weird. If you see this, file/grind off the

little pointed "nose". This is the voice of experience - took me a while to find this

one a few years ago. You may never experience this, though.

Thanks - After the holiday commotion settles down I'll crack it open and take a look.

Don

Be careful of how many cars you pull and how fast you pull them. This loco has a small motor and a "tall" gear ratio. A number of club members have burned out the motors on Williams steam engines. The 4-6-0 has the best gear ratio for the motor, but the traditional sized 4-6-4 and 4-8-4 locos are prone to motor failure when run with a too heavy/fast load.

Hi Don,

As D500 alluded to there is a potentiometer on the Williams to control the sound.  Both my L&NE PA1 AA set and my ATSF Berkshire needed the 'POT' adjusted when they were brand new.

This picture is from another member here who does a good bit of Polar Express modeling, but I can't remember his handle...the 'POT' is highlighted in the yellow circle and this pic is sort of a profile.  The center of the 'POT' will accept a very small flat blade screw driver, like one from an eyeglass repair kit, and it is sometimes necessary to turn it back & forth to find a spot that yields the desired volume.  Good luck, that's a nice present!

Robert