Looking for tips or advices for the early Williams Dreyfuss Hudson to run

Pretty sure I have the same loco.

As a runner mine needed nothing but a little cleaning and oil. It's all metal drive IIRC and while simple....a great model. 

All my issues were with the locos looks. I added tender skirts, air pumps under the nose, NYC shield and new decals as the original were paper stickers. 

The end result.......you should with any luck have a great loco no matter if you leave it alone or rework it. 

FYI here it is out of the box.......

After reading the other thread I  lubed the two I have and they ran. The only issue was on one wheel set all fell out oj the tender truck.

Hello guys and gals

Does anyone have a Williams 1984 catalog where this early Dreyfuss Hudson is listed in ?   I am curious what it looked like in the catalog back then and perhaps take picture of it and post it here ?

"When I heard your voice, the baby inside me jump with joy" Luke 1:44 ERV (Easy to Read Version) This is talking about baby Jesus inside Mary before birth!

Tiffany

Hello Guys and Gals.......

I received My Williams Dreyfuss Hudson this morning and took it out the box.  I been inspecting the engine and tender today and surely enough it needs lots of JB weld metal epoxy to make the bodies (locomotive and tender) strong enough to be handled without falling apart !   I will have to wait until Weds to buy lots of JB weld epoxy as that's when we get paid then start doing some serious work on this poor budget Hudson.  Soon I will post pictures tonight (my time). UP-DATE... I been really busy this evening oh boy !! I had to re-tap the hole to the next size to 4-40 by 3/4" long machine screw as the original trailing truck boss hole was drilled at a angle at the factory !!  The trailing truck was binding when checking for clearances on the curve because of the screw that was crooked !!.   I am just started working on it as the first evening but have a long way to go!

THANK YOU SO MUCH DON !!!

"But if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done" 1John 1:9 ERV (Easy to Read version)

Tiffany

Tiffany posted:

Hello guys and gals

Does anyone have a Williams 1984 catalog where this early Dreyfuss Hudson is listed in ?   I am curious what it looked like in the catalog back then and perhaps take picture of it and post it here ?

 

As far as I know Williams did not made any catalogs in these years; I remember only adverts in Model Railroader with not very detailed black and white pictures for the 2 NYC Hudsons (Dreyfuss and non-streamlined) they made. I think the first nice catalog picture for Williams brass 3-rail was made for the PRR K4s in 1985/6 in this flyer. Later (1987 and on for some years) Williams trains were cataloged as part of the MTH tinplate catalogue, but the Hudsons were not in these catalogs.

Regards

Fred

Besides the pilot what else do you need all the epoxy for? From the pics the rest appears to be OK.

Pete

It looks good to me. And it does look like the same version as mine. Good luck!

The Williams Dreyfuss Hudson we used at the Bergen County Model Railroad club in the 1980s ( it is the same one you have) was beautiful but inaccurate versus the real engine. It looked so good we did not care about that. After all, we were 1980s 3-railers and thrilled just to have something different to run than Lionel repaints made from 1940s tooling.

Our problem was we could never get it to run right. It went back to Williams 8 times before we gave up and used it as a display piece for shows.

We did our own tweaking with the mechanism as well, but we never could get it to run well enough to use at shows reliably. Other owners of the Dreyfuss Hudson during the same time frame told us the basically the same thing with their experiences with the engine.  Later Williams brass engines corrected the reliability problems with the mechanisms of  the first two Hudsons  Samhongsa made for the company,  and their later brass steamers were accurate in outline and good runners.

I am going to guess from your e mail that you got your Dreyfess for a great price.  In that case, it is worth trying to get to that shiny gray beauty to run right because it is such a good looking steamer. the brass Dreyfuss  was important to the hobby because it was a step along the way to different and more realistic 3-rail engines.

I am writing this because after all these years that engine still provokes a strong emotional response.

Anyway, have fun reviving it.

Ed Boyle

When the 2 NYC Hudsons (Dreyfuss and non-streamlined) were advertised by Williams in 1984 I ordered both. They were nice engines running well on my then small 3-rail layout. When a couple of years later Weaver announced their Dreyfuss Hudson I thought this looked much better and I sold the Williams and "upgraded" to the Weaver version. The non-streamlined Williams Hudson I kept and it is still running well without any maintenance, making a special sound every now and then.

Regards

Fred

Ed when Tiffany gets her loco running you should send her your shelf queen. I bet she can fix it for you. Don

Norton posted:

Besides the pilot what else do you need all the epoxy for? From the pics the rest appears to be OK.

Pete

Hello Norton......

Well I thought that the other parts would come apart and so I wanted to make it stronger by putting epoxy on the soldered seams INSIDE the boiler and tender body.  The tender steps are looses and the 2 plates that was soldered inside the tender body which the solder has broken off and is still on the frame. I thought this might be a chance for other soldered on parts to come off.   I was planning to put the Dallee e-unit inside the engine boiler (don't need sounds) so I can epoxy the tender body to the frame. There will be more pictures coming and will post in this thread.  If you have more questions or ideas please let me know.

"But If we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done." 1 John 1:9 ERV (Easy to Read Version)

Tiffany

Hello guys and gals........

I did some work today, removed the motor and gearbox out and hooked up the motor to run freely to "seat" the bearings and brushes on MRC D.C. pack for 5 minutes each direction for total of half hour. I took the gearbox apart to clean out the old grease, added new trust washer on the worm shaft , added fresh Red N Tacky then reassembled the gearbox and motor back on the frame.  I hook it up again on D.C. pack and gave it a spin for half hour forward and backward. It is running for first time since 1984, No mechanical bindings looking good so far. here are the pictures !!!

"But God is being patient with you. He doesn't want anyone to be lost. He wants everyone to change their ways and stop sinning" 2 Peter 3:9 ERV (Easy to Read version)

Tiffany

Hello Tiffany

That Williams Hudson, I am certain, is happy to be in your care. Thank you for posting photos. Good luck with your project. Keep us posted, y'hear?

Around 1990, Williams offered superb brass locomotives with excellent details and smooooth, reliable drivetrains, as Ed Boyle posted.

One of them was a NYC Niagara. It looked sleek and elegant and it ran like a Hamilton watch. I hope you can fine one to keep your Hudson company. And if someone had installed a QSI sound system around that time, it may have a special feature. Click on this link

ReadingFan posted:

Hello Tiffany

That Williams Hudson, I am certain, is happy to be in your care. Thank you for posting photos. Good luck with your project. Keep us posted, y'hear?

Around 1990, Williams offered superb brass locomotives with excellent details and smooooth, reliable drivetrains, as Ed Boyle posted.

One of them was a NYC Niagara. It looked sleek and elegant and it ran like a Hamilton watch. I hope you can fine one to keep your Hudson company. And if someone had installed a QSI sound system around that time, it may have a special feature. Click on this link

Hello ReadingFan...

Thank you sir !!   I have long way to go to finish it.  I still have valve gear work as Williams assembled it very sloppy so I will try to tighten up the slop and main rod/ piston work too.   There will be more pictures coming.   I am starting to REALLY like this Hudson and felt sorry for it when it was poorly assembled and soldered.  Two parts came apart this evening which is the bottom plate of the cylinder block (the plate hold the cylinder block on the frame) and other part long straight strip holds the valve gear assembly in the rear.   I have my work cut out for me and hoping to finish rebuilding this Hudson by the end of March or sooner then comes painting.  I will try my best to nurse this poor engine back on the rails.  The motor and gearbox is good and running that part is done my goodness !!!

"Give the Lord a chance to show how good he is. Great blessing belong to those who depend on him!" Psalm 34:8 ERV (easy to read version)

Tiffany

I will try my best to nurse this poor engine back on the rails.  The motor and gearbox is good and running that part is done my goodness !!!

That's good news. I wish you well.

ReadingFan posted:

 

One of them was a NYC Niagara. It looked sleek and elegant and it ran like a Hamilton watch. I hope you can fine one to keep your Hudson company. And if someone had installed a QSI sound system around that time, it may have a special feature. Click on this link

That is neat!

hello guy and gals

When I received this early Dreyfuss Hudson, it didn't have boiler lead weight.  Did early brass Williams models come without lead weights ?

"God, create a pure heart in me, and make my sprint strong again.  Your help made me so happy.  Give me that joy again. Make my spirit strong and ready to obey you. Psalm 51:10, 12 ERV (easy to Read Version)

Tiffany

I had the catalog for 1984 or thereabouts but I can't find it. It had both Hudsons, a peculiar Shark AB combo in NYC and Penn and lots of other things. I have the regular Hudson but haven't run it in years. A couple of guys were adding flywheels and I had that installed. It ran fairly well but I had trouble keeping the front truck on the track.