Williams #4949. 4-6-2 question

Its scale but a very poor runner. I think it was one of the first Brass engines Williams produced. Buy it only if you are up for a challenge.

Pete

The 4949 was THE first Williams brass engine and like Pete says, it wasn't very good.

They are full O scale size (or at least very close) are a reasonable model of a B&O pacific but unlike most brass steam engines they don't have much additional detail.  The tender trucks look like they are 6 wheel but they only have 4 wheels in them and they don't roll well.  It has a fixed coupler.  The gearbox is susceptible to zinc pest and there is no reverse or flywheel so the engine only runs forward with no coasting and when it stops it drops anchor.  It does run very smooth, just really stops abruptly.

I have one complete engine and all the parts for a second except a gearbox.  I had planned to install a flywheel motor with an electronic reverse unit and replace the tender trucks with Lionel ones. I have all the parts, but I never completed that project.  I do that a lot.  At some point I'll sell what I have to someone that wants to take on that project.

Hope that was of some help.

Well, there's a lot of relevant wisdom in this post from a few months ago...

https://ogrforum.com/...2#172611907131199442

I would consider dropping a different moter in it as well. The original is known for being a real current hog, so much so that the original electronic unit in them would fry.

Chris

LVHR

Thanks. All comments are appreciated. When lurking around for potential projects I'm always pulled in to the lower cost of much of the Williams locos. If nothing else I've learned with Williams you have to do your homework and ask around here in the forums before buying. Seems that for at least thier steam locos, the quality can be hit or miss depending on when they were built. I don't think I've ever heard anything bad about thier diesels.

Thanks again!

Bobby

Later Williams brass was much better. Not as detailed as 3rd Rail but parts are fairly solid and most run fairly smoothly.

Pete

@Tom D. posted:

They are full O scale size (or at least very close) are a reasonable model of a B&O pacific but unlike most brass steam engines they don't have much additional detail.  The tender trucks look like they are 6 wheel but they only have 4 wheels in them and they don't roll well.  It has a fixed coupler.  The gearbox is susceptible to zinc pest and there is no reverse or flywheel so the engine only runs forward with no coasting and when it stops it drops anchor.  It does run very smooth, just really stops abruptly.

I always thought that they were pretty B&O correct, if not heavily detailed. If I were a B&O guy I would have taken one on as an improvement  project of some kind. Their running gear gets a lot of grief, but I think that fine-tuning it as you plan is the way to go.

The smokebox front is NYC (from their early brass Hudson, I assume), as I recall.