I have mixed feelings on Williams/WBB. First of the general feel and very deserved reputation is that they are rock solid. They are good for big hands and small hands alike to handle. On the downside if you are looking for scale realism you won't find it with stamped steel handrails. As to pulling power they are amazing. Plenty of weight and traction tires. Dc can motors that need no maintenance and are really hard to damage. The down side is that they take off at such low voltage that if you are pulling passenger cars you will likely not see the lights very well. Many hobbyists have rewired the motors in series to slow them down. The upside is if you are pulling trains up grades they have power to spare.
The thing I really have never liked about Williams engines is the sounds. Either you get no horn what so ever, like the Chuggington engines or the older Williams models, or you get Williams True Blast plus. This system has engine sounds, although I can't hear them well on the one example I run. The thing I really can't stand is the horn sound. Every time you hit the button you get the crossing signal of 2 long blasts, 1 short blast, and 1 long blast. You can't "play" the horn. I really don't like this feature.
The diesels ( I don't have any Williams steam to comment about) are great candidates for command upgrades. With twin vertical motors with flywheels they readily accept dcs packages. I have one I started a few years ago when I had more time on my hands. It was relatively easy to do for a first timer.
Overall great value for the money, should run without issue at low voltage unless it's been modified. I just really don't care for the sound package.
