OK, here it is, the saga of the Williams GG-1 conversion in pictures.
Here's the intended victim, a Williams GG-1 with a really HEAVY diecast shell!
Starting out, rip the shell off and revealed is the ancient Williams reversing board, relay based. No sound in this model it appears.
Stripped everything, removed the motor trucks, nothing but a piece of scrap metal.
Unpack out the Cruise Commander board and mount it between the motor trucks.
Note aluminum block spacer, provides heat sink and spacing for the truck motor mount to swivel under it. Thermal compound used on the block on both sides to help with heat dissipation.
Wired up the motors and track pickup and ground, all you need for basic operation.
Success! Runs like a champ.
Time to attack what is always the hardest part of these installations, the mechanical installation of the electrocouplers. Since I'm modifying a Williams engine and using Lionel electrocouplers, this should be interesting. Note the Williams coupler is soldered to the truck plate, interesting construction. It did make it easy to remove, just use heat.
The old coupler is in the background, and the intended replacement lies in the foreground.
Nuts to that right now, let's hook up the sound, that'll be more fun! Mounted the sound board using Velcro strips, makes it easy to take if I need to remove it for any reason.
The speaker is also mounted on Velcro at the other end of the engine, only place big enough for it.
Plug a couple of cables, and solder the tach leads for engine sound effects to the nearest motor, and time for another track test.
Sounds great, but now the only thing left is the electrocoupler installation! Here's the first one mounted, and the plastic mounting plate that I constructed to fasten it to the plate. Drilled a few holes and bolted it down.
Here's the other side of the truck top plate with the electrocoupler mounted.
The original truck with the Williams coupler and the converted one with the electrocoupler installed. Pretty slick if I do say so myself!
Another shot of the two trucks.
This is the plastic mounting plate that I made to mount the electrocoupler. The search for suitable material was the hardest part, finally used a $1 plastic putty knife from Home Depot, it was the exact right thickness to make the plates!
Here's one of the completed electrocoupler installations, wires are routed out the slot that the truck support rides in.
Time for the full track test, seems everything works!
The finished product with the shell back on, looks just like it did before I injected $250 worth of electronics into it! Maybe I should be disappointed. :laugh: Note the pantographs, they're actually function, that's my TMCC antenna since the shell is metal.
Testing is interesting, at the slowest setting of about 1" a second, if you just stop the train, the wheels will slowly spin on the track keeping the engine running at the same rate. Very impressive, should be easy to manage on a larger layout, set the speed and truly forget it!
Here's the intended victim, a Williams GG-1 with a really HEAVY diecast shell!
Starting out, rip the shell off and revealed is the ancient Williams reversing board, relay based. No sound in this model it appears.
Stripped everything, removed the motor trucks, nothing but a piece of scrap metal.
Unpack out the Cruise Commander board and mount it between the motor trucks.
Note aluminum block spacer, provides heat sink and spacing for the truck motor mount to swivel under it. Thermal compound used on the block on both sides to help with heat dissipation.
Wired up the motors and track pickup and ground, all you need for basic operation.
Success! Runs like a champ.
Time to attack what is always the hardest part of these installations, the mechanical installation of the electrocouplers. Since I'm modifying a Williams engine and using Lionel electrocouplers, this should be interesting. Note the Williams coupler is soldered to the truck plate, interesting construction. It did make it easy to remove, just use heat.
The old coupler is in the background, and the intended replacement lies in the foreground.
Nuts to that right now, let's hook up the sound, that'll be more fun! Mounted the sound board using Velcro strips, makes it easy to take if I need to remove it for any reason.
The speaker is also mounted on Velcro at the other end of the engine, only place big enough for it.
Plug a couple of cables, and solder the tach leads for engine sound effects to the nearest motor, and time for another track test.
Sounds great, but now the only thing left is the electrocoupler installation! Here's the first one mounted, and the plastic mounting plate that I constructed to fasten it to the plate. Drilled a few holes and bolted it down.
Here's the other side of the truck top plate with the electrocoupler mounted.
The original truck with the Williams coupler and the converted one with the electrocoupler installed. Pretty slick if I do say so myself!
Another shot of the two trucks.
This is the plastic mounting plate that I made to mount the electrocoupler. The search for suitable material was the hardest part, finally used a $1 plastic putty knife from Home Depot, it was the exact right thickness to make the plates!
Here's one of the completed electrocoupler installations, wires are routed out the slot that the truck support rides in.
Time for the full track test, seems everything works!
The finished product with the shell back on, looks just like it did before I injected $250 worth of electronics into it! Maybe I should be disappointed. :laugh: Note the pantographs, they're actually function, that's my TMCC antenna since the shell is metal.
Testing is interesting, at the slowest setting of about 1" a second, if you just stop the train, the wheels will slowly spin on the track keeping the engine running at the same rate. Very impressive, should be easy to manage on a larger layout, set the speed and truly forget it!