Williams 44 ton 820 Switcher: Thanks

The bell button is on modern transformers, if you are using an old 1033, you'll have to add a aux bell button control.

Manny:

On the lower outside frame of your switcher, there should be an “F” printed on one end. This “F” indicates the front end of the switcher.

Curt

The prototype had two engines.  Since this only has one, I think he wants to know which direction will provide better traction.  Since I have one of these, that would be an interesting discussion.

Ron; if that’s Manny’s question, I’ll note that with my single motor MPC era F3’s and GP’s, the engines seem to run and pull better with the motor at the rear.

Curt

No brainer, Curt is right, the single powered truck in the rear almost always yields significantly more pulling power.

I have one. I haven't noticed any difference in pulling power based on motor location. I only move a few cars at a time with mine though. There is no"F" on these either.

I do have a Lionel RS-3 from a starter set that only had one motor in the truck and found that it did pull better with the motor to the rear. I've since added a second powered truck.

Williams engines are speedy. I wire my dual-motor units in series and they slow down quite a bit. Can't do that with the single's but a diode string will accomplish the same result.

Obviously, if you don't tax it's pulling power, you'll never notice the difference.  However, just do a pull test with any single motored engine with only one power truck in each direction, I think you'll see the light.   In a drawbar pull test with a scale, I typically get 20-40% more pulling power with the motor in the rear.

“There is no"F" on these either.”

Didn’t know that. I’ve not seen one in person and a catalog depiction I found in an old OGR post comparing the Williams and MTH models showed an “F” on the Williams model.

Curt

Did not know that and I have one🙄

Looks like you got the original question right, Curt.

Thanks for all of those responses.

Yes, my question was about where the motor should be, front/back, to give the best traction.  Sounds like for traction purposes, the motor should be in the rear, which is what I have been doing.

The only thing a little unsightly about the Switcher to me is the bright, candy red, plastic shell.

After I run this for a while, I may want to tone this down a bit, by "weathering" it with a very light spray of something.  Nothing dramatic.  Very subtle.  Any standard "spray" used for this?  (I don't care about diminishing its resale value.)

Mannyrock

Manny:

Testors Dullcote will knock some of the shine off the engine. I’ve been using it for years to avoid having to wear sunglasses when I look at some of my trains. 😉

You can generally find this stuff at well stocked hobby shops or on Amazon.

Curt

Thanks Juniata.  Just the info I needed.  (I was thinking of giving it a quick wipe-down with pure acetone, but that is really caustic.)

Definitely NOT acetone! That will melt the plastic.

Curt