Peoplw who have williams trains.

If you want to run in conventional you can't go wrong with a Williams engine.  Good pullers and run great and you can always upgrade them to DCS or ERR in the future if you wish.  The newer Williams by Bachmann have prime mover sounds horn and bell.  Waaay better than the original grade crossing horn and clanking bell .

I have several Williams engines, some quite old. They have always been a great value.  I recently added ERR to two of my L&NE FAs.  They are among my favorites. Years back I found that in conventional mode they outperformed Lionel and were closer to scale as well.   

Mine are very well made.  For the price i wouldn't hesitate to buy a williams that I liked; engine, pass cars, etc.  (And then add err or a sound package if desired.)

I’ve got around 30 Williams engines ranging from their F3’s to GP9’s, 30’s and 38’s and, probably my favorites, the scale FA’s.  I’ve changed the wiring in most of mine to series which gives them a lower slow speed and seems to make them run more smoothly.

I have found Williams to be extremely reliable engines that are capable of pulling long trains with no issues. 

They are about as easy to maintain as some Lionel Postwar engines and the few times I’ve had an issue with one of them, Bachmann’s lifetime warranty has taken care of whatever the problem was including twice where they simply sent me new engines.

I have gravitated toward purchasing  MTH engines in recent years but, still enjoy running my Williams engines in conventional mode from the transformer. 

I’ll summarize by saying Williams is one model railroad product I have absolutely no problem endorsing.

Curt

Great products. Pretty much bulletproof remakes of classic Lionel...but with more modern drive train (can motor).

Easily upgraded...

One drawback...suethe smoke units...which in my experience seem to be random...some smoke really well...others not so well or not at all.

All in all, tho...excellent value compared to the more expensive brands...

I have two Williams locos and nine Williams by Bachman locos. All were purchased brand new form retailers ... some advertise here on OGR forum.   Out of the nine WbB three were problematic, out of the box, and one of these three was dead on arrival. All three were made good on by the retailers from whom I purchased.... and never had another problem with them since.   

They are all good pullers, reliable, and look good ... yes lite on detail but I do not expect fine detail at the WbB price point.   Sound on my scale forty four tonner is decent, the model looks good, and is fun to run.   For the money WbB are very good locomotives ... but I now test the locomotives at time of purchase before I bring them home.  As others have said you can upgrade them to DCS or ERR too.... although I've not done this as of yet.

\got more Williams that the rest combined.....yes..I like...

You get the idea.......

I have the Pennsy B6sb steam switcher/shifter and have had no problems with it.

Tom 

Baggage car from Jerry's first five car heavyweight set.  This set led the way for factory sets.  He saw the market for heavyweight, close to scale size passenger cars and put his money where is mouth was.  Others soon followed.  17" over sills.  REA square on points logos have been added as well as the chains.  Very close to if not the same rivet pattern of the MTH 17" cars.  John in Lansing, ILL

I've been happy with my Williams trains as they are reliable good runners.  They aren't my most accurate trains, but when I need a locomotive that will run on and on and on, my Williams are always good go to trains.  I usually pack a few Williams locomotives with my more "complex" ones if they go down when I run for the public.

Great product.  I have several Williams GG-1 locomotives converted to PS2 and running off live catenary.  Williams came on the scene with FM TM.  They were the introduction for many of us to can motors.  How great that was.  

I first bought Williams back in the 80's as a much cheaper option than original Lionel. Their FMs, GG1s, Budd cars and Madisons still run on my layout. The only problems I ever had were the e-units that have failed (and were replaced by old mechanical e-units and a rectifier). Other than that, they're bullet proof.

You can't beat the value for the price. Go ahead and buy some.

I also think they are great locos. I own 5 Crown Edition brass steamers and they are all great runners / pullers. I plan to have most of them upgraded to DCS, which will make them run even better. The only negative I can think of is being brass, they're more delicate than diecast locos. 

John 

Williams stuff is well-made. Or I guess I should say it was well made when I was buying it. But as I am building my layout, I couldn't afford to put in everything and conventional operation got the ax. I am committed to DCS and I run TMCC through DCS. Conventional operation just required enough extra complication in the wiring and planning for the various things that might happen or that I might want to do that it was easier juts to drop conventional operation. It sound odd to say this, but DCS simplified my layout construction and that meant a lot to me. 

So I stopped buying conventional engines. Yes, I can upgrade anything to DCS or TMCC for $175 or so including the sound boards.....and that brings the total cost up to just about what I would have paid for a factory DCS or TMCC engine. So why? There's sure no economic sense in it.

Williams, like some other mfrs, needs to wake up and smell the electronics. It's 2018, not 1998. But that's just me. For a conventional operator I think Williams makes great stuff.

Don

I agree with the above. I now have 7 Williams F3s, 2 Williams F7s with Ott sound systems, and a GP7. All run quite well.  The Willams F3s are the Lionel look alikes, but I think they actually look better because all of the units have front hand rails, portholes, and grills on the roofs. My GP7 has a problem with its horn, but it doesn't worry me at all. I also enjoy several Williams brass steam locomotives even though they have no sound.

Lew

Williams is great stuff, nice quality, great price and good pulling power. I was hesitant at first to buy Williams after they were bought by Bachman, but they have continued with the same tradition and done an excellent job.

I've upgraded a number Williams units with ERR and DCS kits. I've noticed the drive-train is very similar to that of MTH. And another nice benefit, the older Williams engines can interchange shells with many of the Lionel MPC engines. Let's you breath some new life into the favorites you had as a kid.

I have 2 and am very happy with them.

I have a WBB GP38, one of my favorite engines.  I series-wired the motors to slow it down and it’s an excellent runner.  Heavy and will pull more cars than I own.

I have several and I think they are great. They are well built, heavy and pull great. If accurate detailing and prototype fidelity are important to you, then most of the product line will not appeal to you. The MSRP is too high for them. Most retailers sell them at a more reasonable price. The dummy upgrade kits are a plus. The other manufacturers don't offer kits to power up dummies that I am aware of. Parts are readily available from Bachmann and from a few other places.

My first Williams was a PRR GG1 (along with a set of Williams passenger cars). The engine was on sale (a great price) as were the passenger cars. My next  purchase was a Williams PRR steam loco and it is a great puller (I have it running now with 10 freight cars). I subsequently bought several A-A diesels including an ABA Santa Fe that looks great. It seems that Trainland in Lynbrook always has some Williams engines on sale and in geeral are more reasonable than MTH and Lionel. 

I must mention that my last purchase was a Lionel Lion CHief plus rectifier and I find the accompanying remote a revelation.

John F

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.

I think your opinion of Williams trains largely depend on what your expectations are. I have about a dozen Williams engines, all are pre Bachmann Williams and most all are from the Golden Memories Post War reproduction series. If your idea of 3 rail is Lionel Post War than these will more than fufill your expections for reasons stated above. Williams used the best of the Post War to emulate. The steamers and diesel have the best detail of the time and diesel frames are die cast vs the later Post War stamped steel with stamped handrails.

If your idea of 3 rail is command control with scale size and fine detail then look elsewhere.

Pete

                             have a couple,  love them,  great pullers...

             bottom four shelves Williams...

                        except four the 4 Chessie's & 3 Arizona and California's

.

The only Williams locomotives I have are a AA pair of PRR Baldwin Sharks.  As others have noted, I had to wire the motors in series to get good low-speed performance, but once I did that, they ran perfectly, and have for at least five years, now.

The drawbacks?  Well, PRR Sharks had TrainPhone antennas along the roof, and Williams never even offered that feature as an option.  Also (again, others have already pointed this out), the TruBlast II sound generator leaves a lot to be desired. One of these days, I'll get around to installing a better sound system in the dummy A unit.

  Other than that, I have no complaints at all.  They look good and they run well.  Excellent value for the money.

The early Williams is not so good but once Jerry got the hang of it he offered some nice copies of post war Lionel's that ran very well. Sold to WBB they have lost Williams basic idea of offering nice trains at affordable prices. Yes the new engines are better but the Williams concept is gone.

I only have 10 but they are terrific, no frills, no fail pullers.  If you are particular about sound and rivets, they may not be for you, but if you just want the fun of dependable locos pulling lots of cars, you can't go wrong.

Williams = bullet proof.

I tend to agree with JHZ's assessment. I just recently bought my second Williams (the first was over 8 years ago) loco. It is the new ?Golden Memories? blue Santa Fe diesel. It looks great and pulls like a champ but for True Blast Plus one can not hear the train sound or horn when the diesel is moving (even after turning the volume all the way up). I have returned it to Williams for 'repairs'. I have not heard back as yet whether what I have is normal or if there is something wrong.

Joe

I have several Williams Electric Trains on my layout. This is an A-A E7, I have had this loco for about twenty years. Being from Michigan, this Pere Marquette works out great, This photo is also my screen saver on my MacBook Pro.

I use MTH DCS Wi-Fi / The only thing I have to be careful of is that my layout has 18 volts to all the main lines and the power is always on. Have to park a Williams locos on a siding with a electrical power block and leave the power off, until ready to run layout in conventional mode.

I also have several pieces of their rolling stock. With the Detroit & Mackinac Railway, as the road name.

Hope this helps: Gary

I've got a WBB GP9 and I couldn't be any happier with it.

You can wire up the can motors in series by popping a few pins and switching them around in the connectors... Way slower with gobs more pulling power. AFAIK this can be done on any of their locos. 

About 95% of the comments are positive.  What do you think that percentage would be if someone asked about Lionel or MTH locomotives?  That should tell you something.

Good solid models that are simple, durable, and work well. I have their O scale ABA Alco F series; their rendition of the old Lionel 4343, F3 in a Santa Fe ABA, the red color is too burgundy and flat compared to the Lionel originals I have but the locos are strong and solid; a 773 Hudson, the detail is not as good as my 1939 700E but it is rock solid in operation; a pair, both powered, of Canadian Pacific FM Train Masters, they come from different manufacturing runs and display a slightly different paint tone and small paint scheme variations, they have different road numbers actually nothing you wouldn't expect as they get road time on them both a powerful excellent renditions of the Lionel originals. I also have Jerry's version of the Lionel 682 Turbine in it's original Pennsy color scheme and road number, like the other Williams locos it is a solid performer and looks good in Brunswick green.

I have their copy of the Lionel 50th anniversary O27 passenger set, they are well make physical copies of the Lionel originals but they are hard pullers which stall locomotives with Magna Traction and spin the drivers of those that don't have that feature, I've made a couple passes over wheels and trucks but haven't yet solved this. The yellow color has too much red in it making it almost a hot orange tone with a hint of pink instead of golden yellow. Neither are anywhere close to UP's Armor Yellow but the Lionel is easy on the eyes and look clean which real UP yellow appears dirty in comparison.

Also, a set of their 60 foot Canadian Pacific streamliners, these are very nice solid models that don't pull hard like the O27's I mentioned above. Plus a set of 80 foot Superliners in Amtrak which I'm going to repaint for Canadian Pacific when, or if, I finally retire and some time to do them right. Not that CP ever used these but it is my world as I would have it that I'm modeling.

Williams was acquired by Bachman which is a company that is great on making things very well but is a complete flake when it comes to parts and support.  Their life time warranty is only for the life of the production run and any spares that survive. Once a production run is done if your widget ever fails and no parts survive in storage there is no recourse with the warranty, its done with its lifetime.

Bogie

Western Pacific F units from the Williams 'Golden Memories' series. Fabulous trains.

I have quite a few Williams locos and have upgraded a number of them to battery powered bluetooth control. (See OGR Dec. 2016 issue for details). They run well and are easy to convert. Performance after the conversion is stellar.

I own five sets of F3s, four sets of GP9s, one older semi-scale steamer, one of the newer Pacifics with improved sound, a new GP30, and a four-car set of Madison passenger cars (NP), which run behind my Lionel NP steamer.  The only trouble I've ever had is with the tether between the engine and tender on the new Pacific.  Once attached, it's so tight and hard to undo that I'm afraid to mess with it for fear of tearing open the outer casing.  I sold a few I wish I'd kept, including the C&EI BL2.  I ordered one of the new 70-Ton diesels in Rutland livery.  All of these locomotives are as solid and reliable as any MTH or Lionel I own.  Definite thumbs up and I would love to see Bachmann increase the options and roadnames.

Even us guys who own very few Williams products like 'em.  I'm particularly fond of my reproduction SG State Set and modified TCA 35th anniversary GG1 with 4 bakelite madisons.

Bruce

lewrail posted:

I agree with the above. I now have 7 Williams F3s, 2 Williams F7s with Ott sound systems, and a GP7. All run quite well.  The Willams F3s are the Lionel look alikes, but I think they actually look better because all of the units have front hand rails, portholes, and grills on the roofs. My GP7 has a problem with its horn, but it doesn't worry me at all. I also enjoy several Williams brass steam locomotives even though they have no sound.

 

Lew

You can plug and play the better Williams diesel sound boards. While not as fancy as MTH or Lionel they shouldn’t disappoint you. 

I’ve done a few and I’m happy with them. They come in Alco and EMD. I’ve done it with older Williams and a Weaver RS3

William's & K Line great bang for the buck. "Fun 2 Run"