[chloen8504]

So it seems I realized I'm late to the party but I was at a Flea Market yesterday and found a Dash 9 for sale. Now I'm not really a fan of diesel locomotives, but I do like the Dash 9's. But I had never heard of Williams before. It was always Lionel and MTH.

Are these engines any good. I'm running on MTH Realtrax and have a SP Daylight currently, and use a z-1000 power pack for it but looking at being able to swap between a couple engines and trains at some point to reduce wear on a single engine/ train.

Anyhow as to this particular engine I managed to contact the seller and he stated it is new and only pulled out of the box to show for sale. I have dealt with this seller in the past for HO scale trains and he seemed fairly honest. (Bought a couple steam engines which are still running, though I don't run HO scale anymore as will as track and rolling stock, incidentally he may be willing to offer me a price on all that stuff again lol) Back to the engine at hand. I just don't know much about Williams and the price he's asking is while I understand it, not too bad but money is tight (as is the economy 😑) But he was asking $300 but said he could go to $280 with that really being the cut off point. Is this a fair price for something like this? Looking around it's hard to find much in the way of anything current with ebay showing over $400+ after shipping for an engine like this. Also I'm willing to bet he may cut me a little bit more on offering for my ho scale stuff. I'm honestly not expecting a 1:1 swap but every little bit helps. lol

So, TLDR. Is Williams a decent train for someone who is used to the starter sets from MTH and Lionel? Would the engine be worth the asking price of $280+ tax for a unused model? How are these engines for running?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Norton]

Price seems a bit high even in these inflated days. I would think $200 or less is more like it. They are good engines though that one looks older judging by the box behind it. Some of the older diesels had no flywheels and might not be as smooth as the newer ones. The ones in the silver and red boxes or mention True Blast II are the ones to look for.

Pete

 

[Millstonemike]

A Dash 9 for $230 from Mario's Trains.

 

[Lehigh74]

Trainworld has a variety of Williams Dash 9s for $200 to $220.

Williams locos are great runners and are generally considered to be bulletproof. Some models start like a jackrabbit unless you have a light touch on the throttle. Might not have all the details of MTH or Lionel and sounds are not as good. The handrails on most Williams locos are a turn off for some.

Would be a good addition for conventional operation.

 

[seayakbill]

Williams locomotives are stump pullers and super reliable. Probably the best conventional locos available for the price.

 

[chloen8504]

Price seems a bit high even in these inflated days. I would think $200 or less is more like it. They are good engines though that one looks older judging by the box behind it. Some of the older diesels had no flywheels and might not be as smooth as the newer ones. The ones in the silver and red boxes or mention True Blast II are the ones to look for.

Pete

It has true blast plus. And is a red and blue box. I take it this one would be one of the newer ones?

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Even so, the price seem high based on the other posts.

 

[Lehigh74]

It has true blast plus. And is a red and blue box. I take it this one would be one of the newer ones?

Yes. That is the current model listed on the Williams site, but as John said, you will do better getting it at Trainworld for $220 or Mario's for $230.

 

[chloen8504]

Yes. That is the current model listed on the Williams site, but as John said, you will do better getting it at Trainworld for $220 or Mario's for $230.

Ok, I will check into it online. Though I did end up picking up a different engine in the end. I'm planning on selling my remaining HO scale trains most likely to the same guy that I got the different engine from and who is selling the engine that started this post and he also has a decent bit of mth real trax and such for what I feel is cheap (30" straight pieces for $2 a pop). So maybe a trade deal could come from it. I did manage to read up more on this particular engine and brand and found what many have now stated in this post (many thanks to all of you!) That it is a rugged and reliable train and brand.

And in case anyone is wondering what I did get, it was a k-line K2438-0856HS Lackawanna Train master, conventional w/Horn & Smoke. It just kinda caught my eye. I've already ran it on my small layout and was surprised at how quick it was, I had to dial down my throttle for fear of her derailing on the curves!

I'll probably update this post or add on what happens with my trade. I really am not sure what to expect on that front. As it seems the most valuable item of the HO scale stuff I have is most likely the Bachmann K4 PRR that has DCC but no sound. It's missing it's box though so . But I do have a lot so maybe something will come of it. He stated he was really looking for HO stuff and I'm looking for O gauge so who knows?
🤷‍♀️

 

[Lehigh74]

I can understand why the Lackawanna FM Train Master caught your eye. Let's see some pics. Here is my MTH Railking duo.

 

[chloen8504]

I can understand why the Lackawanna FM Train Master caught your eye. Let's see some pics. Here is my MTH Railking duo.
View attachment 601089

I don't have a full on nice layout like you do. 😅 But I did take a picture of the girl. Ignore the background. I'm a nerd! She only has the horn for sound system which is kinda..... I'll use my imagination, but the smoke unit works great. Trust me, I know. I smoked myself out of my control area by keeping her in neutral too long and on a higher throttle setting. 😂🤣 She runs great though and seemed rearing to pull a train as I had to pull back on the throttle when she shot down the track and almost derailed at the curve, oops! 😅😂

As stated above I'm more of a steam engine person, but there are some diesels that I like. And this one kind of called out to me. lol Though I think I'm going to research more into engines I plan on adding as the Train Master that caught my eye kinda of had a depressing history to her. Not going to lie after reading the brief article on wikipedia and learning her fate I kinda patted mine and said "not many of you survived, so we'll have some fun now old girl." 😅(This won't detract me from buying trains, in fact it made me glad I DID get this one. I'm planning on slowly building up my collection, one rolling stock at a time or engine at a time. (As I'm sure most have done for years here!) Anyhow, here is the pic I took of her for now. My layout is a mess, on the floor/carpet (using mth realtrax) and just not in any state for displaying right now.

 

[chloen8504]

On another note I DO plan on buying the original posted engine, just most likely not from him. Or at least not without talking more with him over it. He did state he'd get back to me next week on all the HO scale stuff I had for sale so we'll see what happens there too. Anyhow it does seem that if I want a reliable engine that the Williams ones that the site and even he has is a good choice I just need to shop around for prices first haha! lol

 

[Lehigh74]

The K-Line Train Master looks good. A bit nicer than the MTH Railking and Lionel postwar versions.

 

[Norton]

Another option is an MTH Dash 9. They have done them in Premier and Railking going back to PS1. I believe both versions will have better detail than the Williams and the older ones could likely be had for less than the Williams.

Pete

 

[chloen8504]

Will, a bit of an update. I traded in a whole bunch of HO scale train stuff to him and Got the Dash 9. As will as enough 0-54 gauge mth track to do about 3 or 4 complete circles, 4x 30" straight pieces, a z-1000 transformer and controller (I know these work with z-500/750 transformers as will if memory serves and I suspect these may be used as will as the lower mentioned rolling stock.) a NIB MTH lighted lock-on, nib power cables, and 4 freight cars (2 boxcars, one pig illuminated box car, tank car,and a NYC offset caboose. A bit of a mishmash of stuff, specially the freight cars of one of the box cars will go good with the Train Master as its the same Road name. The Dash 9 was nib as will for note. Just pulled out for display. So there is my update. I already put the Dash 9 on the tracks and ran it around a couple times at about 1/4 speed and she seemed ready to go to work. No hesitation.

Trainworld has a variety of Williams Dash 9s for $200 to $220.

Williams locos are great runners and are generally considered to be bulletproof. Some models start like a jackrabbit unless you have a light touch on the throttle. Might not have all the details of MTH or Lionel and sounds are not as good. The handrails on most Williams locos are a turn off for some.

Would be a good addition for conventional operation.