who can repair broken Williams Niagra locomotive.

Its hard to say without seeing it but it may cost as much to fix as what they are selling for currently. Some have sold for as little as $250. It may not be able to be straightened without damaging the paint in which case it would have to be stripped and repainted. Might be worth taking some pictures and posting them here.

Pete

I've had pretty good luck straightening diecast with constant pressure over days, I apply heat to speed the process.  You have to be patient, but many times it can be fixed.  I've fixed several broken pilots using JB-Weld after straightening what I could.

The Williams Niagara is brass.

Pete

Are you talking about the plastic shell or the metal chassis? The plastic shell can be glued back together and sanded off a few days later to let the glue dry fully. The metal frame can be repaired by putting it in a vise but first must be stripped of all truck assemblies, weights, and electronic circuit boards. 

Lee Fritz

Norton posted:

The Williams Niagara is brass.

Pete

Well, that would be easier to repair, but probably as you observe, you'll need a repaint.

If just the pilot and smokebox front were damaged it wouldn't be a big deal but if the frame is bent then it might require disassembling the whole drivetrain including the drivers to make it right.

Pete

Certainly true, I obviously wouldn't commit to a repair without seeing it.

The  body is not plastic, it is Brass.

Is it the scale brass Niagara or diecast? We have to see pictures.

I am not aware that Williams ever made a Niagara in diecast. Hudsons were made both diecast and brass but no diecast Niagara.

Pete

The Williams Niagara was made of sheet brass by Samhongsa of Korea; Samhongsa made items for 3rd Rail, and others, also, before leaving the train business. Very good products.

There is no plastic anywhere on it; there is no zinc on it. It is sheet brass and brass lost-wax castings, soldered and screwed together. It has sprung drivers and a PT tender that tracks very well.

A locomotive does not need to be stripped to be re-painted, especially in the same paint scheme.

I have 4 of them, one (so far) weathered and upgraded to ERR cruise commander. They run like watches; these are not to be confused with most of the steamers that WBB produces now (they aren't much).

I have a Lionel Niagara (!) and an MTH Niagara; the Williams/Samhongsa brass Niagara is superior to both of them, except for add-on detailing.  

Norton posted:

Its hard to say without seeing it but it may cost as much to fix as what they are selling for currently. Some have sold for as little as $250. It may not be able to be straightened without damaging the paint in which case it would have to be stripped and repainted. Might be worth taking some pictures and posting them here.

 

Pete

Thanks Norton but I have looked at it thoroughly and it didn't damage the paint just broke of at the front of the chassis and broke one of the smoke deflectors loose.

phillyreading posted:

Are you talking about the plastic shell or the metal chassis? The plastic shell can be glued back together and sanded off a few days later to let the glue dry fully. The metal frame can be repaired by putting it in a vise but first must be stripped of all truck assemblies, weights, and electronic circuit boards. 

Lee Fritz

there is no plastic this is an all brass locomotive that has a diecast chassis and mostly other brass details. the paint is not damaged  just the chassis right in front of the pilot truck is broken off .

D500 said it correctly.   I had one years ago and it was a super deal for the money.  I had two Lionel versions and dumped them for an MTH that is now PS3.   Like many others I am hoping Ryan Kunkle will do it in Legacy.  He will get it done right.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Norton posted:

The Williams Niagara is brass.

Pete

Well, that would be easier to repair, but probably as you observe, you'll need a repaint.

there is very little if no paint damage its just that the chassis is  broken off right in front of the front pilot truck and one of the smoke deflectors is loose also the pilot or cow catcher is also broken off that all

Ron H posted:

Is it the scale brass Niagara or diecast? We have to see pictures.

its the scale brass not diecast and not plastic its all brass except for the chassis

D500 posted:

The Williams Niagara was made of sheet brass by Samhongsa of Korea; Samhongsa made items for 3rd Rail, and others, also, before leaving the train business. Very good products.

There is no plastic anywhere on it; there is no zinc on it. It is sheet brass and brass lost-wax castings, soldered and screwed together. It has sprung drivers and a PT tender that tracks very well.

A locomotive does not need to be stripped to be re-painted, especially in the same paint scheme.

I have 4 of them, one (so far) weathered and upgraded to ERR cruise commander. They run like watches; these are not to be confused with most of the steamers that WBB produces now (they aren't much).

I have a Lionel Niagara (!) and an MTH Niagara; the Williams/Samhongsa brass Niagara is superior to both of them, except for add-on detailing.  

yes I agree with you the y do run superior to anything else but it doesn't have any paint damage just a broken chassis right in front of the front pilot truck and a loose smoke deflector and a broken off cow catcher  or  pilot . 

yes I agree with you that they do run superior to anything else but it doesn't have any paint damage just a broken chassis right in front of the front pilot truck and a loose smoke deflector and a broken off cow catcher or pilot

GeoPeaks posted:

yes I am final y  back from my open heart surgery and am trying to get back to my railroading , but I was fooling around with some display shelving in my train room and should have for seen trouble but wasn't paying attention and knocked my Williams Niagra  off the shelf and of course it hit the floor nose first. It broke the pilot of at  the chassis and took off the smokebox door and broke loose the smoke deflector on the left side. I think I can fix the smoke box door and the deflector but I don't know what to do about the broken chassis it looks like it is slightly bent where the brake is and I am afraid to try and straighten it with pliers as I don't want break it of further. does anyone know how to fix this or can someone do this for me I would be glad to pay to have this repaired. thanks     

 Geopeak --   If you e mail me I can give you the name and contact info of a guy who has tons of original  Williams parts and he does Williams repairs as well.  He worked for Williams for over 20 years.  My contact info is here on the forum.

This can be repaired but it appears this was broken previously and someone tried to epoxy the pilot back on. To repair it properly the epoxy would have to removed. The smokebox front is a press fit only. Its made to be removed to replace the headlight bulb. It doesn't appear you need any parts other than possibly some brackets which can be made of brass sheet. No need for a complete repaint but the pilot may need to be stripped to make soldering easier. 

Pete

Cool looking loco. Definitely worth putting it in the shop. 

Pete.  I think your right I never looked at it that closely when I bought it but I think it had been broken and repaired badly before, I think I can repair it myself if I get some  silver solder and some new screws that fit the holes to hold the pilot on. thanks for all the input guys.

I spend very little time on trains this time of year, otherwise I would offer to take care of this for you. I just finished repairing a 3rd Rail Niagara which had lost most of its add on detail and the previous owner had tried to repair it with epoxy. It just makes a proper repair more difficult. If you strip the pilot and make the repair you should be able to mask off the rest of the engine and hit it with gloss black and get a decent match.

Pete

Pete thanks again for your input but there really isn't any damage to the paint only physical damage to the front of the loco none of the other details came off except the smokebox front and the smoke deflector is loose oh the left front side I think I can fix the front pilot myself if I can find some silver solder and can get one of my soldering irons to work haven't had to use one in years but nothing ventured nothing gained anyway thanks for all the input guys but I think I have this handled.

I would like to know how you are going to clean the brass area in order to get a good solder joint and not need to do some repainting? Then the paint around the solder joint will probably be damaged due to the heat. Good luck.

Thanks Big Jim, but I have thoroughly checked all of the solder joints that will need to be redone and the only two I am really concerned about  are in hidden places where I think if I am careful I will only need a very little solder if I do mess up the paint in those areas I will touch up with a paint brush. I might like to do some weathering on that loco anyway so I am not worried about the paint. I don't run that locomotive anyway its just for display with my NYC heavyweight cars and Pullmans.

HI AGAIN GUYS . I think we can put this to rest now I got myself busy and did the repair work myself and I think it's fairly representable . Thanks for all the input though, and  I will probably need more input about other things in the future,

Can we see pictures?