Williams Silver PRR GG1 #4866 (Edited)

IMHO, if the seller listed the locomotive as having never been run, and you agree that indeed it wasn't, then how was the seller to know the horn didn't work?

I think your first step is to figure out which locomotive you have.
I found this web page on a Williams by Bachmann 4866 GG1. It implies there may have been more than one.

C W Burfle posted:

IMHO, if the seller listed the locomotive as having never been run, and you agree that indeed it wasn't, then how was the seller to know the horn didn't work?

I think your first step is to figure out which locomotive you have.
I found this web page on a Williams by Bachmann 4866 GG1. It implies there may have been more than one.

I'm very new to this hobby. The link you posted states,  "True Blast® Plus sound package, this GG-1 sounds as good as it looks". This one must be an earlier or even a first edition. As I mentioned, above, The two GG1s I already have sound 10 time better.

Ponz

Williams has gone through several generations of GG1s.  Did it come with a box?  Original release Williams scale GG1s came with a simple terrible sounding horn and nothing else.  Later came version with Ott sounds.  Typically this was during the glossy finish era of the their trains.  That was replaced with True Blast that had a horn and a bell.  No other sounds.  This continued after Bachmann bought Williams.  Bachmann introduced True Blast Plus which has the blower sounds similar to the Ott era ones, but much better quality sound.  They all run great, but sounds may vary.  I don't believe I have any Bachmann era Williams.  Are they marked as Williams by Bachmann on the bottom?  Williams always had the name stamped somewhere.

Ponz: speaking for myself, the sounds never interested me. I have the WBB with the True Blast horn & bell which I rarely activate BUT it pulls like a champ and will run on 042 curves. The only problem I had was getting it to go through turnouts. It did not want to go through K-Line 042, MTH 042 or Lionel 048 or Modern era 072. It does however sail right through my one and only prewar 072 switch, which is a good thing, otherwise I would not be able to get it onto my Atlas turntable from the 042 mainline. I've never heard of anyone else with that experience, so I hope yours will run on whatever track you use.

Jonathan: Mine came in the silver box and the frame is stamped Williams by Bachmann. 

After the post was edited, I see now that the locomotive in question has the True Blast sounds.  That was a carryover from Williams and it is a generic sound set of a five chime horn with a grade crossing pattern of long-long-short-long and a bell.  As functioning sounds they were pretty terrible to start.  Personally if the price was good on the G, I wouldn't worry about the sounds.  One nice thing about Williams is that they are consistent.  I've been able to reliably run four powered locomotives together without command and have them sync.  That is how I often run my GG1s.

artyoung posted:

Ponz: speaking for myself, the sounds never interested me. I have the WBB with the True Blast horn & bell which I rarely activate BUT it pulls like a champ and will run on 042 curves. The only problem I had was getting it to go through turnouts. It did not want to go through K-Line 042, MTH 042 or Lionel 048 or Modern era 072. It does however sail right through my one and only prewar 072 switch, which is a good thing, otherwise I would not be able to get it onto my Atlas turntable from the 042 mainline. I've never heard of anyone else with that experience, so I hope yours will run on whatever track you use.

Jonathan: Mine came in the silver box and the frame is stamped Williams by Bachmann. 

I have my scale GG1s running around my outer loop of Gargraves, which I bent around my stomach and hot water heater to circle the perimeter of an 8x8 table.   I must have made one bend just a litter tighter than the other three because my scale GG1s slow just a tad around that curve.

Ponz

GG1 4877 posted:

Williams has gone through several generations of GG1s.  Did it come with a box?  Original release Williams scale GG1s came with a simple terrible sounding horn and nothing else.  Later came version with Ott sounds.  Typically this was during the glossy finish era of the their trains.  That was replaced with True Blast that had a horn and a bell.  No other sounds.  This continued after Bachmann bought Williams.  Bachmann introduced True Blast Plus which has the blower sounds similar to the Ott era ones, but much better quality sound.  They all run great, but sounds may vary.  I don't believe I have any Bachmann era Williams.  Are they marked as Williams by Bachmann on the bottom?  Williams always had the name stamped somewhere.

No box.  It has the Williams initials on the bottom.  No blower sounds at all.

Ponz