Williams 5 car streamliner passenger sets

I have a number of Williams and WbB passenger sets. The 5 car sets are older Williams sets I don't think WbB has ever offered 5 car sets in a sigle box. I do have some WbB 6 car sets with a 4 and a 2 car sets combined. 

The plastic '72 foot' cars are well done. No real frame detail, lighted with frosted silhouette windows. For the cost, often under $100 on the used market, they are hard to beat. Paint and tampos are always neat and crisp. I bought a 6 car CP set that I will repaint but at about $100 delivered I can repaint without worry. The one thing is the car design is a bit generic if that's an issue with you. Not GGD detail or accuracy but not near they cost either. All boils down to what you want and willing to spend. I love them!

I've got a Williams 4 car Milwaukee Road set (While I wait for the Lionel sets to be released.) and I think that, for the money, they are excellent value. As Dave said, the paint and printing is really good, they run well too. 

I snatch them up when I can.

Be very careful when considering purchasing a 5-car set. If they are in the white boxes with red lettering (very early production from the 1980's), the trucks will have to be replaced with Lionel or newer Williams versions. The factory trucks were awful. An easy way to tell is they have non-operating couplers.

Thanks everyone.

Crown Edition sets (around 1990) are beautiful. They run well and their couplers work. Pennsy and Norfolk & Western sets are fully painted. I see them for around $250 at York and at other train meets. The consist is 1 Baggage, 2 Coaches, 1 Vista Dome, and 1 Observation.

There is a rare 20th Century Limited set from the early to mid-1980's. When Nicholas Smith and Mike's Train House purchased the inventory of Williams Electric Trains, unpainted 15" (60-foot) aluminum cars were painted a more glossy gray and decorated with dry transfers. Each car had a different name from the real 20th Century Limited consist.

I found a photo of a Crown Edition N&W coach that I took after I installed color window strips. These strips are available from a dealer at York. I like them better than silhouettes. The photo below is a Williams 6-car Reading 60' Madison set

The five and six car passenger sets are a little bit older Williams, mainly from the Crown Edition era. Some earlier models came with non operating couplers or fixed couplers, these need replacing as there is no way to save them.

The later models of the Crown Edition came with what looks like K-Line trucks and couplers. I have some Crown Edition King Coal passenger cars and they have both types of couplers, one was bought as a six car set and others were bought as separate sale items.

The Williams passenger cars are very nice, except for the earlier runs of them.

Don't buy directly from Bachmann/Williams or you will over pay on the price. Buy from Trainworld or Western Depot online.

Lee Fritz