WBB E7???

Keep in mind that swap would reduce the weight of the engine, decreasing its pulling capability.

Ron, I took it off to have a look and the difference is barely noticeable.  I thought it was a solid piece, but it's hollow.  The real weight is the 6-wheeled trucks.

Just for giggles I just weighed it, 4.9 ounces so that is a bit of weight to consider.

One more question, is it better to wire the motors in series or parallel and what are the differences in doing so?

Willams engines have rubber traction tires on both trucks so weight is not a concern. Me personally, I leave them wired factory style. The newer transformers start out at ZERO volts so too fast is not an issue. If you DO rewire it your transformer needs to be able to put out 20 volts minimum or the engine will run TOO slow.

Rob

Wiring in series can give problems because each motor will then get the voltage it wants, so if one motor slips because of dirty track you have a pulling issue, as one motor may sit there and spin drawing most of the voltage. Also wiring in series means a much higher voltage to start with.

Leaving the motors in parallel from the factory is best! Because if one motor slips the other will  make up for the slippage in parallel and still keep pulling. Some of the newer transformers start at a lower voltage then the old post war transformers.

I have a Troller brand transformer that starts at zero, it has 0 to 9 & 0 to 18 volts on a toggle switch on the transformer so no re-wiring is necessary for any Williams engine.

Personally I have never seen any Williams engine run that fast that it needed to be wired in series. From my perspective to wire a Williams engine is series is to make a snail pull a tortoise from a speed perspective. I usually put 2 Williams powered SD-45's together to get the pulling power I want.

Lee Fritz

Thanks guys!!!  Parallel it is.

I also started making a fuel/water tank out of styrene so I'm good to go.