I have a williams Rock Island Paint scheme (ABA) which are not dcs. I love the scheme. If I bought a MTH Railking FA with Proto 2 , would the williams body fit in the MTH frame? They look similar in pictures.
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Why not purchase an ERR cruise commander or DC commander and put it in the Williams FA ? j
...or better yet, a PS3 upgrade kit which is made for this purpose?
!.Try and find One. 2. They cost around 200 dollars. 3. a large amount of wiring and time for something that based on my electrical skills might not work. I have converted GP-9s via changing shells. Not that difficult, and buying second hand geep with dcc was cheaper than 200 dollars. So the question is again are the sizes close.
Still researching the ERR. Found one company but they ask you to email or phone for price. That usually means a shocking price. The guys at the local hobby shop told me generally that converting a williams engine to DCS, was not worth it.
Well, it's not worth converting if you can buy the engine in the road name you desire for the same price, but everyone's tastes and desires are different. It's up to you to decide if it's worth it.
I agree with JohnAction..........get the ERR Cruise Commander......fix 'er up and there is your engine, ready to go!
To me your situation coincides with the saying, "price is what you pay.....value is what you get"! I'm certainly NOT made of $$$, and yet I prudently do pay $$$ for something I really want. Once paid for, the "ouch" of paying $$$ slowly fades away.
I say go with the ERR Cruise Commander and save yourself a lot of future headaches. ERR CC - $140. Shipping - $15. Installation -DIY first time 3 hr. max. There are a number of people here who do this for a fee - ask them the cost. But you can download the instruction sheets, read them thoroughly 3 or 4 times and you may be comfortable enough to tackle installation yourself.
One way to know for sure & it's no extra cost. Remove a few screws & see if it fits. It probably won't be perfect but it might surprise you.
All good info. I have A Powered , A, B Unpowered Williams rock island in the black red paint scheme. No one else makes that scheme. I want to keep those colors. The reason I asked the conversion question in the first place is that I dont own a MTH FA. I am thinking of buying one. Thats why I asked if the sizes are similar before I buy. As for the ERR comments, where to buy and who does the work? I asked at a hobby shop in louisville with around 3 guys working on engines and they wouldnt tackle that, or said it wasnt worth doing.
OK- First what someone would or wouldn't tackle is immaterial. Second as to worth, that's up to you; see GRJ's & RedJimmy's posts above. Now where to buy; Google: Electric Railroad Company and you will get ERR by 3rd Rail which is the official site of ERR and will give you product info, prices, and downloadable instructions. Who does the work? As far as i know both GGG and GRJ here on the forum are still doing installations; if not they may be able to make a referral. There are others as well. Finally, if i get the time later this afternoon i will make some rough EXTERIOR measurements of a RK FA frame. No, i will NOT take it apart and get out calipers to give you exact measurements.
I still do TMCC and DCS upgrades. 
Good to know, John. I didn't want to speak for you. I stopped doing them 2 years ago except for one local hobby shop.
Thanks all. I will look into err and conversion. Jackson, thanks for getting the measurements. Hate to be greedy but could you also measure center of truck to center of truck?
OK, the following frame measurements are APPROXIMATE only: (metric +/- 1mm, inches +/- 1/16in.). RK FA: OA length 10 3/4" or 275mm; OA width 2 7/32" or 56mm; Trucks cntr. to cntr. 152mm; Rear MTG. Screws 9/32" or 8mm from end of frame, 1/4" or 6mm from side of frame; Front MTG screws to rear MTG screws 9 1/2" or 241mm. Screws are measured center to center. Good luck.
Electric Railroad company website:
Wow RK FA is a lot smaller. Williams body is 12 inches long and truck center to center is 7 inches. Guess Ill pursue ERR
The ERR conversion is pretty simple. I just converted a Williams Alco PA a couple months ago and the installation was a breeze.
Just curious but do you have TMCC/Legacy in addition to DCS? The ERR conversion is a TMCC conversion. If you have all DCS locomotives and a TIU, but no TMCC/Legacy equipment then a PS3 conversion may still be your best route.
Williams engines have a long history of high reliability. I would stay with the Williams frame and add your choice of R/C electronics.
antibachmann posted:Wow RK FA is a lot smaller. Williams body is 12 inches long and truck center to center is 7 inches. Guess Ill pursue ERR
Now remember i gave you the frame measurements, not the body measurements.
Sorry. meant the williams frame measures 12 inches. Yes I Have TMCC wit DCS. LOU 1985, there are a number of ERR conversion kits. Which did you use
antibachmann posted:Sorry. meant the williams frame measures 12 inches. Yes I Have TMCC wit DCS. LOU 1985, there are a number of ERR conversion kits. Which did you use
For my upgrades, I do a Cruse Commander with the Railsounds Board that has the sound appropriate for the engine. I would also add a remote coupler to the front end of the engine (would be too long for the back end).
The Cruise Commander gives you Cruise speed control the DC commander will blow your conventional horn if you don't want to spend $ for ERR TMCC sound board. Those are your two choices. j
Just an idea - can you buy an inexpensive MTH FA and have it painted in the style you like?
antibachmann posted:Sorry. meant the williams frame measures 12 inches. Yes I Have TMCC wit DCS. LOU 1985, there are a number of ERR conversion kits. Which did you use
I used the ERR Cruise Commander with the Alco PA Railsounds Commander in my Williams Alco PA. Both would be appropriate for your Williams Alco FA. The hardest part of the installation was drilling holes in the frame for the program/run switch.
Thanks all for the info. As for buying a MTH and painting.....I have an ABA set of williams FAs. Have had for years. Probably paid around 300+. I can paint OK, but the paint scheme is moderately complex. Then there's finding the overpriced decals. Also since The MTH FA is smaller, it wouldn't look right with my A /B dummies. Digital install seems the best way to go.
Antibachmann never said what he didn't like about the original loco. We all just went along offering solutions without knowing the original problem/complaint.
On the Williams/Bachmann locos in my roster that are not currently scheduled for conversions, I wire the motors in series. That makes them much better behaved, no jack rabbit starts, less prone to speed variations with track voltage variations, and costs nothing.
Maybe that solution will do, at least in the short term?
I have no complaints about the williams FA, or any williams engines Ive had. I love the paint scheme, want to keep, Trying to find the easiest, cheapest way to make the engine digital.
Electric Railroad Cruise Commander is your best bet.
cpowell posted:Just an idea - can you buy an inexpensive MTH FA and have it painted in the style you like?
Do you know what a professional paint job of the same quality as the Williams Rock Island ABA set would cost ? A lot more than adding either PS3 or TMCC to the existing set. j
BOB WALKER posted:Williams engines have a long history of high reliability. I would stay with the Williams frame and add your choice of R/C electronics.
The Williams and Railking frames are similar and dang near identical. They use the same make of can motors and the drive trains are so similar one could almost interchange parts from one to the other. As for reliability, it all boils down to the electronics and in that boat everyone has an opinion.
Upgrading a Williams with a PS3 upgrade kit is easy to do if one would want to go that route.
Yes Im going to do ERR commander. Seems the cheapest way, and from online videos, I think I can do it
The ERR Cruise Commander is the way to go. You can always add sound later on; just leave enough room for both the extra electronics and the speaker so you don't have to move the CC later. The overall dimensions of these are on the ERR website. The toughest part of an installation is picking a location for the CC board and making a hole for the prog./run switch. Take your time and remember there is always help here on the Forum. Good luck.
antibachmann posted:Yes Im going to do ERR commander. Seems the cheapest way, and from online videos, I think I can do it
Use the cruise commander. It's a very straight forward installation. If you've ever done any wiring you should be able to install the cruise commander no problem.
antibachmann posted:Yes Im going to do ERR commander. Seems the cheapest way, and from online videos, I think I can do it
If you need to unload your Williams e-unit & sound after the upgrade, send me a message. Email is in my profile.
Good luck with upgrade! ERR kits are pretty simple to do and the instruction are very straight forward.
