Williams 773

I have not run mine on O-31 but Williams says it can navigate O-31

Wow, that's tight...

Mark in Oregon

I never ran mine on less than 042 curves.

Thanks for the info everyone

Its a reproduction of the Post War engine which also ran on 031.

Pete

I'm not personally a fan of the Williams die-cast 773.  The ones I tested several years ago didn't run well on sharp curves.

If you have wider curves (O54 and above) there are other, more-detailed choices that run better (albeit more expensive.)

If you're determined to run a scale-sized Hudson on O31, I would choose an original Lionel 773 (also expensive) or one of the MPC releases like the 783 over this.  The 783's can have issues of their own, and benefit from a lot of break-in time.  A Century Club 773 might be the best value in terms of performance and features per dollar.

All that being said, if I were limited to O31 I would choose a "traditional sized" Hudson, such as Lionel's LionMaster, LionChief Plus, MTH RailKing, or maybe K-Line's K-5335 which is pretty nice.  They aren't scale-sized, but overall they will look more realistic because there will be less overhang, and they might harmonize better with traditional rolling stock designed for layouts with table-top curves.  My $.02.

Ted S

Do the century club locos run well in conventional?  Would the TMCC give me issues?  I run pw with a zw transformer only.  I have the 783 but I like the williams and thought about trying to get one.  The cc773 interest me but wasnt sure if it would run right with my set up

The Williams has a DC motor but is geared very high (low numerically). Slow speed running is not very smooth. The Pullmor Lionels are marginal at low speeds as well.

The K-Line scale Hudson will run on 031 with the supplied longer drawbar and can be had in conventional but the TMCC version runs fine in conventional too as do most TMCC engines.

Pete

@Norton posted:

The Williams has a DC motor but is geared very high (low numerically). Slow speed running is not very smooth. The Pullmor Lionels are marginal at low speeds as well.

Amen. I have found that the Pullmor Lionels, once broken in, will run better at lower speeds than the Williams. Their gearing is not as high as the Williams, it would seem. The more you run them, the better they get.

0-31. Wow, that's tight. Have you room for 0-42? Not ideal, but a whole lot better.

right now I have to run 031 as I have no real estate to go bigger

As Ted pointed out maybe a tradtional size Hudson would be a better choice. K-Line, Lionel Lionmaster are both very nicely detailed and run fine on 031 as do the Williams semi scale engines.

K-Line

Pete

I have several pw hudsons and have had good luck with my 783 and 784 running on the 031. I like the Williams and if it runs on 031 I may go for one if I can get it at a cheap price, same with a cc773.