William NS F3--anyone have one? How is the sound & performance?

I have an A-B-B-A NS F3 by Williams by Bachmann.  There are both actual B unit numbers made.  The sound on mine is only the trueblast horn and bell.  With a train in tow they start more smoothly. Alone they tend to start fast.  I have a powered B unit also which really is nice pulling a long consist.  The best part of these locomotives is that they are spectacularly painted.  Finest job ever in my opinion, by Bachmann Williams. If sounds are your interest I would either upgrade your future Williams units or go with the MTH sets.  

I pull ten MTH 18" cars  or more with really good performance.  

Mine 4 units are some of my favorite locomotives.  

I don't have the NS but I have five sets in other road names.  Since the parts under the shell are the same on each one, including the NS version, I can tell you without hesitation that these units are of fine quality, are reliable, and fun.  As Scott says about his, my sets are some of my favorite units.  If you found a set in NS paint at a good price, snatch them up while they're available.  Unless you're looking for more advanced bells and whistles (so to speak), you just can't go wrong.  If you're looking for the tuscan-painted passenger cars to match, I'd choose a set of the Railking versions from MTH.

I have the 20105 F3 AA "Executive" engines; runs very well, bell is great, horn is pretty good also (it's different but somewhat prototypical).

Wally

I have a set of these. Gorgeous color and they run well. I took out the True Blast and added an ERR F3 soundset. 

Roger

Rocer1, How are the True Blast prime mover sounds and horn sound? Are they close to reality like MTH proto-sounds? I don't want to add anything if I get one.

Gondolawillie posted:

Rocer1, How are the True Blast prime mover sounds and horn sound? Are they close to reality like MTH proto-sounds? I don't want to add anything if I get one.

These are old production.  They don't have prime mover sounds.  If you want sound, you will need to add it.  When MRC made O gauge conventional sound boards, I added one to the dummy unit.

Fred

Rocer1, How are the True Blast prime mover sounds and horn sound? Are they close to reality like MTH proto-sounds? I don't want to add anything if I get one.

Mine had original True Blast. Crappy.

Gondolawillie posted:

Saw the Williams Norfolk Southern F3AA set for sale at a good price. Does anyone have it? I'd like to know the sounds quality and how good it runs. Thanks.

Starting 4 or 5 years ago, and over the course of a few years, I purchased a handful of WbB locos.  An FA-1 A-A set, an EP-5, a GP9, a BL-2, and a U33C.  These were all advertised as having True Blast II sound.  Which is horn and a bell sounds.  IIRC, I think they are all the same sound recording.  They run REALLY well, pull like an army mule, and the horn and bell sounds are pretty decent.

A few years ago, I purchased WbB RS-3, with True Blast Plus sounds.  In addition to a horn and bell sounds (the horn is different than the -II versions), it also has prime mover sounds.  It runs and pulls great, the horn and bell are pretty decent, and the prime mover sound is.............. well, okay I guess.  The prime mover rpm's notch up with increases in voltage, but unfortunately, about the time the voltage increases enough to hit the second rpm notch, the loco is already running a scale 60~80 mph (or so it seems).  Any faster than that, and the loco is bound to leave the layout at the next curve!  Not to mention the the prime mover sound is almost drowned out by the speed of the loco on the tracks, let alone pulling any cars behind it.

However, you can cycle the prime mover rpm's up and down throughout the voltage range while the loco is in neutral and hear it quite well.  All in all, the True Blast II and the True Blast Plus sound boards will have to do me for awhile until something better comes along.  And something better is planned at some point in the future. 

Hope this helps.

Mixed Freight posted:

Gondolawillie posted:

Saw the Williams Norfolk Southern F3AA set for sale at a good price. Does anyone have it? I'd like to know the sounds quality and how good it runs. Thanks.

Starting 4 or 5 years ago, and over the course of a few years, I purchased a handful of WbB locos.  An FA-1 A-A set, an EP-5, a GP9, a BL-2, and a U33C.  These were all advertised as having True Blast II sound.  Which is horn and a bell sounds.  IIRC, I think they are all the same sound recording.  They run REALLY well, pull like an army mule, and the horn and bell sounds are pretty decent.

A few years ago, I purchased WbB RS-3, with True Blast Plus sounds.  In addition to a horn and bell sounds (the horn is different than the -II versions), it also has prime mover sounds.  It runs and pulls great, the horn and bell are pretty decent, and the prime mover sound is.............. well, okay I guess.  The prime mover rpm's notch up with increases in voltage, but unfortunately, about the time the voltage increases enough to hit the second rpm notch, the loco is already running a scale 60~80 mph (or so it seems).  Any faster than that, and the loco is bound to leave the layout at the next curve!  Not to mention the the prime mover sound is almost drowned out by the speed of the loco on the tracks, let alone pulling any cars behind it.

However, you can cycle the prime mover rpm's up and down throughout the voltage range while the loco is in neutral and hear it quite well.  All in all, the True Blast II and the True Blast Plus sound boards will have to do me for awhile until something better comes along.  And something better is planned at some point in the future. 

Hope this helps.

Rewire the motors to series and you will see a vast improvement in sound and speed.

WBB stuff runs well, but fast. I just converted a set of WBB Alco PAs to ERR Cruise Commander. They run much, much better from low speed now. The factory reverse unit starts at about 6 volts, which is too high. With the ERR Cruise Commander the units creep along and increase speed easily, without the jarring, sudden increase that comes with the stock reverse unit.

So stock be prepared for jarring starts.

Karl Reichenbach posted:

Mixed Freight posted:

Gondolawillie posted:

Saw the Williams Norfolk Southern F3AA set for sale at a good price. Does anyone have it? I'd like to know the sounds quality and how good it runs. Thanks.

Starting 4 or 5 years ago, and over the course of a few years, I purchased a handful of WbB locos.  An FA-1 A-A set, an EP-5, a GP9, a BL-2, and a U33C.  These were all advertised as having True Blast II sound.  Which is horn and a bell sounds.  IIRC, I think they are all the same sound recording.  They run REALLY well, pull like an army mule, and the horn and bell sounds are pretty decent.

A few years ago, I purchased WbB RS-3, with True Blast Plus sounds.  In addition to a horn and bell sounds (the horn is different than the -II versions), it also has prime mover sounds.  It runs and pulls great, the horn and bell are pretty decent, and the prime mover sound is.............. well, okay I guess.  The prime mover rpm's notch up with increases in voltage, but unfortunately, about the time the voltage increases enough to hit the second rpm notch, the loco is already running a scale 60~80 mph (or so it seems).  Any faster than that, and the loco is bound to leave the layout at the next curve!  Not to mention the the prime mover sound is almost drowned out by the speed of the loco on the tracks, let alone pulling any cars behind it.

However, you can cycle the prime mover rpm's up and down throughout the voltage range while the loco is in neutral and hear it quite well.  All in all, the True Blast II and the True Blast Plus sound boards will have to do me for awhile until something better comes along.  And something better is planned at some point in the future. 

Hope this helps.

Rewire the motors to series and you will see a vast improvement in sound and speed.

I'd really like to do that.  If memory serves, it seems like WbB uses blue and yellow wires to the motors.  Can you tell me which wires need to be swapped around?

Unhook the Blue Wire From plug on one motor and the yellow wire from the plug of the other and hook those two together. Simple.

Mixed Freight posted:

Karl Reichenbach posted:

Mixed Freight posted:

Gondolawillie posted:

Saw the Williams Norfolk Southern F3AA set for sale at a good price. Does anyone have it? I'd like to know the sounds quality and how good it runs. Thanks.

Starting 4 or 5 years ago, and over the course of a few years, I purchased a handful of WbB locos.  An FA-1 A-A set, an EP-5, a GP9, a BL-2, and a U33C.  These were all advertised as having True Blast II sound.  Which is horn and a bell sounds.  IIRC, I think they are all the same sound recording.  They run REALLY well, pull like an army mule, and the horn and bell sounds are pretty decent.

A few years ago, I purchased WbB RS-3, with True Blast Plus sounds.  In addition to a horn and bell sounds (the horn is different than the -II versions), it also has prime mover sounds.  It runs and pulls great, the horn and bell are pretty decent, and the prime mover sound is.............. well, okay I guess.  The prime mover rpm's notch up with increases in voltage, but unfortunately, about the time the voltage increases enough to hit the second rpm notch, the loco is already running a scale 60~80 mph (or so it seems).  Any faster than that, and the loco is bound to leave the layout at the next curve!  Not to mention the the prime mover sound is almost drowned out by the speed of the loco on the tracks, let alone pulling any cars behind it.

However, you can cycle the prime mover rpm's up and down throughout the voltage range while the loco is in neutral and hear it quite well.  All in all, the True Blast II and the True Blast Plus sound boards will have to do me for awhile until something better comes along.  And something better is planned at some point in the future. 

Hope this helps.

Rewire the motors to series and you will see a vast improvement in sound and speed.

I'd really like to do that.  If memory serves, it seems like WbB uses blue and yellow wires to the motors.  Can you tell me which wires need to be swapped around?

 

 

Gene H posted:

Thanks guys!  After rolling it around in my head for the past several months (along with a couple of other loose marbles that regularly rattle around in there ), I was starting to suspect that's what I needed to do, but wanted to make sure.