The one train show a year in Savannah,IMHO,has a nice mix of everything,dealers of new and old,
layouts of various scales and sizes and most people are friendly.

Many see the death of this hobby in the near future,it seems.I don't.
As you saw at that show,most of the enthusiasts seem to be old guys like me.
Many of us don't accept change very quickly.The dealer that is knowledgeable will have
products for all ages.We old guys still think trains should be pulled by steam engines
but many younger folks have never seen a steam loco except in movies or photos
and would rather have the latest diesels and Amtrak style passenger cars.

Many shows will have some layouts but they usually appeal to adults more than youngsters.
They may have beautiful scenery and trains running at scale speed but the kid wants to know
how fast it will go and what it can do beside go in circles some of which ae very long.
I don't care much for smoke and loco sounds,I do like whistle/horn and bell,but kids do.
I have locos with all that stuff that I use when kids of all ages visit my layout

Of course all of this is just my opinion and here is some more.
The manufacturers/importers like Williams by Bachmann,Lionel,MTH etc. are making efforts to
entice younger participants into the hobby.I will skip specifics,just check the various catalogs.

You guys are wishing for a lot.
It's all right to wish.
If WBB did one of those wished for items you should be ecstatic.

Seems that everybody makes "scale" stuff and it is getting hard to find models of the type and quality made by Williams by Bachmann.

There is enough detail to not look toy-like and they run well.

Some also want a command control system and I think that would be a nice optional add-on feature.


My opinion.

As for other types of locos;a Mikado or Consolidation that would be larger than the ten wheeler and smaller
than the Berkshire and Hudson.
A Diesel switcher of some type is needed.

The choice of roadnames is up to the company.They should know what sells.

I have a CW-80 that is just fine.There were problems with the early ones.

Do you have a friend that has a layout of any kind where you could try it on their track and transformer?

If not,I would first go back to where I bought it.If that is not possible contact Williams by Bachmann.

671,

You mentioned above that you use a Lionel post war 275 watt transformer.I assume that is a ZW.[?]

Be aware that the post war transformers had as the lowest output above 5 volts or higher.

Many of the newer transformers have a lower starting voltage.

If I'm not mistaken,the N5c is a purely PRR cabin car.It is NOT the only PRR caboose.
The Long Island caboose mentioned above was,I think,also a PRR design.

Lionel made many Santa fe style cabooses for a long period but it appears that the N5c is the only caboose made by Williams in recent years.

I have never had any wheel slippage with Williams locos.

They all ran too fast for me and all were changed to series wiring.
What was/is too fast to me might be just fine for you.I have NO problem with that.

Warranties were out anyway.

I don't know where on the forum it is but this has been addressed before by some WbB persons,I think.

Remove the body and find the electronic circuit board.It has a very small potentiometer on it with a small screw that should be turned clockwise to raise the volume.Sometimes this screw has what looks like varnish or glue on it and may be a little hard to turn.I have done this several times.Be careful not to pinch any wires when putting the body back on.

I agee with 671.The list price for the powering kit is @$190.00.You can get it cheaper but the suggestion by 671 may be cheapest.

I am probably in the minority but I don't like the heavy smoke produced by some brands of locos.
The smoke odor gets to me rather quickly.I am also not a big fan of other sounds.
I do like whistle/horn and bells.

I have several Williams steam locos and am pleased with the [lesser] amount of smoke.
I do not like the limited whistle/horn/bell patterns but do like the sound quality.
Do I understand that the GP -30 does have operator controlled horn/whistle/bell?
If you can't tell from the above,I have been very pleased with my Williams locos,
both before and after Bachmann.Being able to control the sounds would make them even better.

Quote from: Joe Satnik on May 04, 2013, 01:13:30 AM
HO scale, not 3-rail-O gauge, not "Williams by Bachmann".

http://hoseeker.org/bachmanninformation/bachmanncatalog1987pg07.jpg

http://hoseeker.org/assemblyexplosionbachmann/bachmannbq237diagram1990.jpg

So what does he have?

Now I will admit it has been over thirty years since I have heard a GP-30,the idle seems to be top high pitched and to fast.

The complaint that I read of the sound not being loud enough seems to be incorrect as sheard on some posted videos.

As I said,it has been a long time since I have heard one.

It is on my list to acquire.

Could the "lock and run" switch be for locking in a one direction mode similar to on the old Lionel e-units?