Bargain Hunting: Early Williams O Gauge FP45 Models

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

Great and informative tutorial on vintage Williams! One thing I can add is Williams products don't have much collector interest so they can be found at shows for VERY reasonable prices. Add to that the Williams bulletproof quality and the beginning operator can get a great start in the O Gauge hobby. I've got several Williams engines, one Berkshire and two GP9's, all great runners. In fact, I bought one of the GP9's to replace an ailing Lionel NJ Transit U-34CH. A little "chopping and channeling and the Lionel shell fit perfectly on the Williams frame. Thanks for posting!

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

Good tips!

[@johnandrus3901]

Santa Fe used the War Bonnet FP45's on Conrail TV220, a hot Honda parts van train to Marysville, Ohio. They would run them back to Stanley Yard and wye them, or run them back with Conrail power in the lead. I saw them in the yard a number of times during my career. Williams and some of the other manufacturers, used the DC motors without flywheels. It was like having an on/off switch and we found out the hard way when we first ran them on our club modular. Later models had the flywheels, making them smoother and not jerky. Either way, Williams, K-Line, Weaver and others, filled the need for less expensive, quality O gauge trains.

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

Comparing my FP45s to a newer GP7, the flywheel motors were much smoother, but tend to be drag racers unless you rewire them in series. The Old motor FP45 will creep pretty well, but they stop INSTANTLY once you drop too low on the voltage.

[@billintex001]

Terrific find. I love me some Williams. I have a pair of Warbonnet SF FP45s and a somewhat hard to find set of Williams Santa Fe 80ft aluminum passenger cars specifically lettered Texas Chief. Definitely needs wider curves. I really like the value Williams represented. And I may get hate for saying this, but on many items that were directly derived from Lionel stock, (they started life as officially sanctioned Williams Reproductions after all) I feel Williams corrected and or improved upon many Lionel techniques in production or materials quality. And always at a lesser cost. Amazing company. I hate that Bachman completely squandered them as an aquired resource.

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

I don't have much Williams, but I love them all.

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

Oh yeah, don't get us started on what Bachmann did to Williams.

[@ronalddevine9587]

A steal indeed. Williams from that era are very solid performers.

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

Indeed!

[@franktino6676]

Have 6 Willians diesel locomotives. Aside from the low volume on their electonic horn 'n bell combo True Blast II , which can be tinkered with on the board, they are strong reliable runners with good pulling power. Don't expect creep speeds unless you rewire .

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

The early motors have a lower top speed than their later counterparts.

[@user-gz6tn4bj2m]

Thanks for the tips and you're great inside to the hobby. Love machinery and mechanisms. Nothing happens until something Moves. The motto of u s army base Fort utez

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

:-)

[@johnknippenberg-LandmarkYards]

Very informative, thanks!

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

Thanks for watching!

[@mypugsdad5366]

As always thanks for the really good video. I learn so much.

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

Thanks for watching!

[@genemanno1533]

Informative video. It is nice to know the engines to stay away from. Thanks for information😊

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

Sure!

[@paulbervid1610]

Great conversation.

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

Thanks!

[@chicagolandrailroader]

Williams made some great stuff.

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

Indeed!

[@UncleSalty-nz5uk]

Great find. I have many Williams locomotives. My favorite diesels are the scale FA1 and the BL-2. As far as steam, the brass Niagara and SP Cab forward are always and without isuue, running on my layout!

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

Nice! Someday I'll find a BL2 for a price I like!

[@huntercoleman460]

Great find Mike.

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

Thanks!

[@modelrailpreservation]

With all the comments about how great Williams mechanisms are, I might just have to give them another chance. Got my first Williams loco around 1998 or 1999, back when I was a teenager. Wires to the vertical can motors were too short, and broke easily. An easy fix, yes, back then as much as it is now, but this loco was a Christmas present, I really liked the paint scheme (Rock Island red and black with white pinstripes), and 25 years later, the disappointment still stings and put me off Williams products.

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

Wow. I have to say that other than the Mighty Mite diesels, that's the first negative comment I've ever heard about Williams quality.

[@modelrailpreservation]

@@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks Since yours is a channel I have a lot of respect for, I'm going to take that to mean I likely got very unlucky back then, perhaps one that slipped through the cracks at Williams. When it ran that GP7 was a good, smooth runner. I still have it, technically, though I swapped the body onto an MPC era frame so I could run it with my MPC Rock Island Geeps.

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

@@modelrailpreservation Yes. Williams quality control was generally excellent, so your example was highly unusual.

[@GlennFresch]

Back in the 80s we were happy to have “scale models” like these. Lol.

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

Absolutely!

[@frankmarkovcijr5459]

I would subscribe to Classic Toy Trains just to see the ads .Trainworld had a great sale.A-A sets for $200 with a free B unit. Single locos were $100. I bought a shitload of them. I love Williams engines simple to maintain. I hate traction tires. Most of us don't have club sized layouts. I love diecast cars they are so much more realistic l feel.

[@USAWoodenRailway]

I need one of these

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

:-)

[@Renegade67868]

"Trainz" ebay seller has one of these. Powered & non powered 😊

[@Renegade67868]

Trainz got one listed on ebay for 95,58 dollar!

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

That's about the going rate.

[@Engine1988]

You got a great deal, but I just don't like the way it looks. I don't mind the look of real SDP40Fs (and the similar locomotives), but the nose on this one just looks too stumpy.

[@Engine1988]

It looks sort of like the nose on a GE BQ23-7, but the rest of it doesn't match at all. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Seaboard_Coast_Line_BQ23-7_3001.jpg

[@Engine1988]

And, conversely, I think that the nose looks longer with the handrails on.

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

It takes some getting used to. I think this scheme hides the bad nose better than others.

[@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks]

Interesting.

[@Engine1988]

@@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks Aside from the picture of the Pennsy that you showed, I have only seen your Amtrak loco so I have no idea. The Pennsy looks as though the nose is much more stubby.