I am considering a purchase of some scale 80 ft williams passengers cars that have the painted window strips. Does anyone have these and can you comment on how the window inserts look in person?
I am concerned that they will come of as kinda hokey given the other wise scale like appears of the cars. Also, do the cars come with any kind of interior? If not is it a big deal to add an interior later?
any thoughts as to appearance or operation of these cars would be appreciated.
John Z.
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Also, do the cars come with any kind of interior?
Sorry but NO.
I am considering a purchase of some scale 80 ft williams passengers cars that have the painted window strips. I am concerned that they will come of as kinda hokey given the other wise scale like appears of the cars.
Well I like them. I assume you are getting the Heavyweight style pax sets. I prefer the colored window inserts to the blaze silhouettes.
John - I like them fine. I have some 80 ft Williams cars and some of the 15 inch N&W Powhatan Arrow cars ... all with the color window strips. I also have full scale MTH and K line cars with full interiors. It all depends on what I feel I want to run on a particular day.... cars with interiors, cars with silhouettes, or a mix of both.
If you are a true scale/ realistic person, then the silhouettes are probably not for you. Personally I don't mind them and enjoy watching Williams passenger cars pulled by my scale Lionel J or scale Williams GG1 especially at night. AND I must add that I bought all of my Williams cars at fabulous prices!
Given my druthers, I do prefer passenger cars with interiors most of the time.
I've never thought about installing interiors in Williams passenger cars. I'm sure it can be done though.
If you know someone living close by who is willing to loan you a set of Williams 80 ft. cars ... you may get an idea as to how they will look for you on your RR before you purchase.
Just my 2 cents
Thanks Reading Fan, that Mt. Carmel car is one of the ones I'm looking at! You don't happen to pull those with you T-1 do you?
Yes, indeed! Here 
are photos after custom painting by Reading Steam Guru, working valve gear and other details by Wowak, and an LED headlight and a fan-driven smoke unit by J. D. S. Limited Productions
John, go for it. I am a toy train guy and like what Williams did.
Silhouettes and color window strips are lightly glued in place. It has been my experience that they are easily removed and replaced. Except for a pair (or more) sockets and bulbs, the interiors are empty, Seats, passengers and other details could easily be installed. I'd like to see that project unfold.
Here is a Williams passenger car ( full scale ) from my collection in use on The Free State Junction Railway
I have the 16" Norfolk and Western Set. I pull them with my Railking N&W J. I really like them. I place them better than silhouettes but not as good as a detailed interior. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another to go with a non-scale train. For a scale train, I would stick with the detailed interior. That's my personal preference.
Okay gang you got me. i know what the wife just bought me for Christmas
ReadingFan posted:
Is that a custom paint job on the Reading Company car? It looks just like the 60 foot Madison cars for the Reading King Coal set.
I have 2 sets(6 cars each) of Williams 60 foot Madison passenger cars with King Coal, Reading Company. Had to replace the trucks on my earlier set of Madison cars(non opening couplers) because the cars would not stay on the track, even derailed on a straight track.
As for interiors you will have to add your own. Also you will have to move the floor or chassis mounted lighting to install the interior.
Currently Bachmann/Williams is not issuing much for the northeastern railroads, mainly selling the stuff for the larger or more well known railroads.
Lee Fritz
They remind me of the old Marx inserts.
(which I prefer over the shadow silhouettes
)
It just depends on the individual, of course, as to what looks OK. Personally, I never liked the look of these strips - they just seem too toy-like to me, and too bright, and they focus too much attention on the strips and away from the car. I think perhaps if Williams had used a darker shade of beige for the background behind the figures, and made the strips more subtle, they would have looked significantly better. Just my personal taste.
Is that a custom paint job on the Reading Company car? It looks just like the 60 foot Madison cars for the Reading King Coal set.
That's a Williams paint scheme. It was retained on subsequent production runs but individual car names were replaced by KING COAL.
They remind me of the old Marx inserts.
I like those Marx inserts, too. They include Marx Sales Manager George Dressler; West Coast jobber Colonel Jim Stock, who is wearing a hat; others connected with Marx; and radio and TV stars Rochester and Jack Benny.
Currently Bachmann/Williams is not issuing much for the northeastern railroads, mainly selling the stuff for the larger or more well-known railroads.
Williams made 60', 72' and 80' Reading sets in two-tone green for a number of years. I think the hardest to find is the 80' set. Cars made around 1990 had color window inserts. I see color inserts for 60' cars and 15' aluminum cars in the Gold Hall at York, at the upper end near the middle (the opposite end from Lionel, MTH and Charles Ro). They turn up at First Frost and Spring Thaw Train Meets in Ag Hall at Allentown Fairgrounds and at the Hamburg, PA, Field House because they are close to the Reading.
PLAN B: No one made a passenger set for my 2348 Minneapolis & St. Louis GP9. When Walter Matuch sent an email about a sale of his RMT (formerly K-Line) streamliners, I got two 2-car sets. He sent them to CJB Custom Painting & Designs. Christine J. Braden did an outstanding job with them. Then I found a K-Line Diner and a Pullman at York (blue and silver boxes). She painted them, too. Their window silhouettes had seen better days, so she made and installed new ones.
Today, window inserts with family photos can be made with computer printing. New technology is amazing. Run 286 of OGR just arrived (August / September 2016). I noticed an ad for DHS DIECAST on page 20 that offers 3D to Scale: 1/50 scale green dumpsters, gray concrete highway barriers, orange traffic cones with white stripes, a blue porta-potty, and a green rocking oil pump, all Made in the USA using 3-D printer technology.
I have the silhouette's on my B&O crown edition 60' and my southern 72' which both sets where bought at the time with what fit my budget and will someday be replaced with full interiors, with that said I do like them as they are thou. But also need to add that most of my collection are postwar or remakes of post war. ( I consider Williams as remakes of postwar as basically they are.) Now the newer stuff not so much.
The cars with interiors weigh considerably more and you may have to run shorter trains with the heavier cars. Cars with silhouettes are much easier for Hudson locomotives to pull.
ReadingFan posted:Is that a custom paint job on the Reading Company car? It looks just like the 60 foot Madison cars for the Reading King Coal set.
That's a Williams paint scheme. It was retained on subsequent production runs but individual car names were replaced by KING COAL.
So those cars were made by Williams before the Crown Edition. I don't know all the stuff in the Williams line.
Lee Fritz
HERE IS A WILLIAMS 5 CAR SET WITH COLORED WINDOW STRIPS
This set is identified as #2700 80 foot Madison NYC 5-car set. The set contains 1 baggage car, 3 coaches and 1 observation car.
The coaches and observation car bodies are 18 inches in length. They have nicely detailed underframes and window silhouettes. The paint: two tone gray sides, dark gray roof and white window trim.
Car Numbers:
baggage car: 10200 (Railway Express Agency)
coaches: 6926, 5196, 4006
observation car: 5147
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