Super detailed Williams Master piece Hudson

I picked up a couple of these last year for a song.  They are great looking engines and run well too.  You should have shown a picture of the cab since the detail in there is also impressive!  I also bought the Dreyfuss Masterpiece Hudson and it is also fantastically detailed.  There is even an ash pan between the trailing truck axels.  To top it off the Dreyfuss gray color is a perfect match for the recently released MTH 20th century passenger cars.  I bought a mix of the 1938 and 1940 cars to run a 15 car train.  It looks great!

Rolland

You did a fine job Ron. Someday I'll get around to doing mine.

Pete

Very nice work!!!

Awesome Ron. Enjoy reading about your projects.

Do you have any "before" photos?

Aaron, no before pictures, but these are very impressive from the start.

My hope is others will give adding additional detail to there trains. It's very satisfying. Any more work on your FEF?

Great piece!  Where did you find detail parts such as the air hoses on the pilot?  I recently purchased a Lionel J-3a 5444 and am in process of making some modifications noted on other threads in this forum and would love to add some of these details.  The Pyle headlight is great too.  The Lionel has a Sunbeam which is not correct.

Very nice work!  So is this model for sale!

RJS,

The pilot and headlight are original to this model. Like I said this is a great model to acquire without adding additional detail. The correct headlight for your conversions are available from Precision scale. I make the hoses by pulling the wire from the correct size electrical wire. I've included the pic of my  Kline Hudson with the PSC headlight.

Allegheny, thanks but not for sale.

Beautiful!

Awesome job! I wouldn't sell it either! 

For those interested in a "before" photo, here is how they come out of the box. Mine is waiting on shop track for a similar upgrade. In addition to this unstreamlined J3, Williams offered a Masterpiece Dreyfuss identical to the Lionel Smithsonian Hudson save the electronics. Both can be had for bargain prices.

Precision Scale has every detail part you could imagine and has put two detailing kits together for exterior and cab details specifically for NYC Hudsons. You can download their O scale steam catalog from their website.

Pete

Norton,

Glad you posted the original. These should sell for $1,000, not $500 or less.

Ron

I agree Ron. Good for us they haven't caught on. Electronics upgrades are in order though. The sound is some of the worst I have heard.

Pete

Norton posted:

I agree Ron. Good for us they haven't caught on. Electronics upgrades are in order though. The sound is some of the worst I have heard.

Pete

Yes, one needs to put in the ERR Cruise commander, smooth as silk.

I've owned two of these models, both stock, recently sold one, keeping the other. They are by far the most detailed Hudson out there and originally sold for around $1500 in mid 1995 dollars. Also owned the Dreyfus version which is equally detailed. Yes, the original sound is mediocre by today's standards, but easily replaced. The blackheads put modern Lionel and MTH models to shame. 

If you ever have a chance to pick up one of these Williams Masterpiece Series, you'll love it.

The older Williams brass models are amazing values. I have the challenger and it's beautiful. Your Hudson looks fantastic. Makes me wanna buy more steam. 

The pic of the K Line Hudson is of a great looking engine... I have one and love it.  Ready to do the ERR upgrades as I have done in others.  Also have the Williams Dreyfuss Hudson, and yes, it is as detailed as the Smithsonian, but the backhead is the best I have ever seen from any manufacturer.

Norton, thanks for the heads-up on the PS detailing kits for Hudsons, great to know of and acquire.

Jesse   TCA 

Jesse, the Hudson detail kits are great but really meant for someone who is scratch building one or for an engine with minimal detail like the Williams J1 or dare I say Lionel Vision hudson. The K-Line, newer MTH and Williams J3 have many of the parts included in the kit. Compare what is included in the kits to what you would want to add to your engine. You may only need a a few of those parts and they are all sold separately.

Pete

Ron H posted:

RJS,

The pilot and headlight are original to this model. Like I said this is a great model to acquire without adding additional detail. The correct headlight for your conversions are available from Precision scale. I make the hoses by pulling the wire from the correct size electrical wire. I've included the pic of my  Kline Hudson with the PSC headlight.

Allegheny, thanks but not for sale.

The Bell, Boss, the Bell!

The new "Know Thy Hudsons" book states and shows how the NYC went to a top mount boiler check valve on the Feedwater Heater supply pipe. I think that I have only seen this detail on 3rd Rail and brass high end models.
It is curious that the NYC only used the FWH side of the water feed to do this on, not the injector side.

I might of missed that.  Nope I did not.The Masterpiece Hudson has the piping appropriate to the J1 And the 3rd J3 rail has it. The biggest change you can make is to put brakes and scale NWSL wheels on the engine truck. This means one must fabricate brakes with the PSC engine truck brake kit. Look closely at my pictures and you see what a huge difference it makes. Second is to complete the piping from the steam water pump to the tender.

You did a beautiful job on yours Ron. I remember when these first came out. There was a lot of confusion with Williams suddenly by-passing their dealer network with huge direct mail offerings so I didn't order any.

Wasn't there another large steamer other than the Dreyfus produced at the same time?  A Challenger or Bigboy perhaps?

May I post a couple of our K-Line model as well? This one has PS2 and a MTH smoke unit installed. Terrific Hudson.

Sam, Williams made both the challenger and bigboy. They both are high end brass quality as far as dimensions and valve gear. One needs to put correct engine truck and trailing truck 2 rail wheels on them and detail them. fortunately it is mostly piping that is easy to render, but very effective. I thought of doing a challenger to high end standards with my custom two engine chuff switch and ERR cruise and perhaps John's super chuffer. Problem is  I'de have to have around $1500-$1700 to make it worth my time. 

Ron

Ron H posted:

I might of missed that.  Nope I did not.The Masterpiece Hudson has the piping appropriate to the J1 And the 3rd J3 rail has it. 

Maybe you misunderstood. The top mount check valve was an evolutionary modification showing up on the J1 in 1947.

Big Jim posted:

Ron H posted:

I might of missed that.  Nope I did not.The Masterpiece Hudson has the piping appropriate to the J1 And the 3rd J3 rail has it. 

Maybe you misunderstood. The top mount check valve was an evolutionary modification showing up on the J1 in 1947.

Cool, I did miss it and I will add it sometime. I did not see it in the two books I have.

Ron H posted:

Big Jim posted:

Ron H posted:

I might of missed that.  Nope I did not.The Masterpiece Hudson has the piping appropriate to the J1 And the 3rd J3 rail has it. 

Maybe you misunderstood. The top mount check valve was an evolutionary modification showing up on the J1 in 1947.

Cool, I did miss it and I will add it sometime. I did not see it in the two books I have.

Ron, I don't think you want to add it to your K-Line J1 unless you intend to change the lettering. I am guessing the reason you don't see this detail on most if any J1s is they represent an earlier era. None of the versions with Roman lettering like the K-Line or Lionel engine would have it. It would be optional on the Gothic lettered engines.

Pete

Ron H -

Excellent job.

I have this J3a from the Williams Masterpiece Series and the Dreyfuss version from the same series, also. I have heard that this series had the same builder as the Lionel Smithsonian Dreyfuss, but I have heard, too, that they used 3rd Rail's builder. Neither or both may be true (but neither "feels" like 3rd, and I have both brands) - I only know that the original "good" Williams brass steamers were made by Samhongsa (80's - 90's), but they did not build the Masterpiece Series (they had left the business, I believe).

The "factory default" detail level on my 2 Williams Masterpieces satisfies me quite nicely (some light weathering and ERR is in the plans), but I really enjoy seeing what you did to yours.

I just got my copy of Know Thy Hudsons also; maybe I'll get inspired.

The brass Masterpiece Series also offered a N&W 2-6-6-4 and (I believe) a 2-6-6-6 Allegheney.

Great work.

RLaHaie posted:

I picked up a couple of these last year for a song.  They are great looking engines and run well too.  You should have shown a picture of the cab since the detail in there is also impressive!  I also bought the Dreyfuss Masterpiece Hudson and it is also fantastically detailed.  There is even an ash pan between the trailing truck axels.  To top it off the Dreyfuss gray color is a perfect match for the recently released MTH 20th century passenger cars.  I bought a mix of the 1938 and 1940 cars to run a 15 car train.  It looks great!

Rolland

RLaHaie, Do you still have any of these you would like to sell?

Another update...   I added the ERR DC Commander and RS Medium Steam to the K Line Hudson that came conventional, 5344.  The Dreyfuss Masterpiece Hudson 5450 has the most detailed backhead ever on any Hudsons modeled.  Have not put ERR in the Dreyfuss, yet, but is in the works after FEF  8444, 3rd Rail StFe 3751,  etc.

So many engines and upgrades to do, so little time...…...

Jesse   TCA  12-68275 

Chris;

I am hopelessly encumbered by the "never sell anything" bug.  I renumbered one of them and added a PT tender.   Looks great double headed with a Mountain on the point of along passenger train!

Rolland

What a find show of craftsmanship in your model.  It's inspiring to see these Williams brass locomotives find new life with all the extra time and detailing going into them.

The next day or two I'll fire up the masterpiece Hudson and do some video for ya'll that will appreciate it.

I've got both of the Williams mid 90's J3a and Dreyfuss Hudsons several years ago at very reqasonable prices and keep them on display. I also have K-Line's J1e and for me, it's hard to decide which of the J's I like better, the Williams or K-Line, as both have some great detailing in their as built condition. The later Williams Hudsons were a vast improvement over over the mid 80's 4000 and 4001 Hudsons thatt you see on sale all the time online.

I promised a video of the master piece running, but it has set on the dead engine line for months and won't run, has ERR cruise, but I don't know what is wrong. So here is a video of it stationary.

Another when running doubled with a super Hudson.

Beautiful even siting at rest Ron. Perhaps you could tell a bit about your realistic track that helps add to the overall realism of these shots? Some newer folks probably don't know the story!

Sam, a little about the track. On major straights I used code 148 2 rail flex track with an N scale center rail. The ties are painted gray, weathered and scarred up. I then paint the rails flat black with a spray can and then go back over with a rust wash.

One can see the N scale center rail in this ATSF video.