Blue Comet

[Joe Satnik]

Dear Fred,

I don't know when the first Williams 72' Madison cars came out, nor when the Jersey Central Blue Comet paint scheme first appeared on them.  

However,

Bob Keller reviewed 2 Williams train sets in the Classic Toy Trains September 1996 issue (p. 36-37),  

both led by A-A Baldwin Shark diesels.  

A PRR 4 car freight set with brass cars,

and a B&O 4 car passenger set (gray and blue with gold trim) with 72 foot (O-42) "scale Madison cars", plastic body, die cast trucks and dual pickup rollers.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Edit: grammar

[M1FredQ]

Dear Joe

I would say you are somewhere in the ball park as the shrink wrap around

the boxes showed some age and the boxes came apart at the seams. No big deal as

I easily repaired it with Elmers Glue and they are fine !!

To Williams credit they are beautifully packaged to protect them from any "trauma".

The attention to detail is impressive !!! the doors OPEN with a spring action !!!!

The lighting of the cars is very nicely done and the light distribution seems uniform

throughout the length of the car. Even the lanterns at the rear end of the

of the observation car light up!!!!! I am so tempted to look into 72' passenger cars

as the quality has really impressed me !!  I had to oil the wheels. I use Break Free

Collectors oil it has no harsh chemicals or solvents. The wheels rolled smoothly after

that!!!!! Like I mentioned previously if you are even half considering these cars and

find go for it you won't regret it



More Later!!!!

[M1FredQ]

Finally had an opportunity to order a FULL-Scale Hudson of the New Jersey

locomotive that pulled the Blue Comet.

It's a Williams Locomotive and when I receive it I will give a brief review.

Were excited because it will be a full train from engine to passenger cars!!

[M1FredQ]

The Full-Scale Hudson arrived today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After work picked up my son and picked it up at the FedEx Store.

We opened it tonight. If anyone has any hesitation about Williams WBB

DON'T

They package things so gingerly with box upon box and within the styrofoam they

surround the item with foam. Then they thoughtfully use red ribbon to help pull your

item out of the box and even further have 2 holes on the opposite side of the styro-

foam so you can carefully push the item out of the compartment they package it in.

These folks really CARE the engineering of the packaging alone is awesome!!!!!!!

We got the SCALE New Jersey Hudson O-Gauge out of its packaging and on to the track.

It is recomended that you have a minimum o-42 curve. I currently have 0-36 Fas-

Track with 0-48 waiting in a box BUT  my son and I wanted to set it up and run it!!

The BLUE on the locomotive matches perfectly with the blue on the Blue Comet 72'

Madison Cars!!!!  It is a beautiful engine and looks very commanding and

impressive on the track!!!!!!

When we ran it we have it hooked up to the Lionel CW-80 transformer that comes

with  train sets. It does run and pulls ALL the Blue Comet Passenger cars. I have

both the 4 set and the 2 set and hooked them all up and that locomotive pulls them.

I do have to change the track. It does negociate the 0-36 but it should have the 0-42

that Bachmann recommends or the 0-48 which i have. I also think it will do better

with the ZW or Bachmann 90 volt as recommended.

Th engine has a red glow on the bottom under the boiler and the smoke unit is very realistic.

The train sounds only work when I have it in the neutral state as I think it needs those extra volts.

Overall  this is an outstanding and very impressive engine. It is a MATCh for the Blue

Comet Passenger Madison Cars which are also impressive and very well done. The

folks at WBB include a extra cow catcher with a coupler attachment as well as replacement bulb and extra wheel traction tires.

If you want to get a Full-Scale Hudson I would recommend you do it with the WBB.

The attention to detail, color, and beauty overall take your breath away and the price

makes it easier to take the plunge.

I am thinking of adding the Santa Fe in the future.

I hope this helps.

[M1FredQ]

I just wanted to add that my son ran the engine over an hour last night.

I oiled it this morning with this Liberty synthetic oil and suddenly the engine is

chugging around the layout without one of us pulling or pushing it around the curves!!!

The trainsounds work while it runs even though I still have it hooked up to the

CW-80.
This is one powerful locomotive as it handles all 6 of the Blue Comet Madison Cars

without a hic-cup!!!!!!!!!

The size is nice and I am tempted to look into getting the Santa-Fe maybe around

Christmas. The blue color which I seemed hesitant about is really nice and  the

photos and pictures on line don't do it justice.

That goes for all the WBB engines and rolling stock I have purchased thus far. It

looks SO much better once you have your eye on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you all for all the help and suggestions I have received along the way it

only reinforces that this is the greatest hobby!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Joe Satnik]

Dear Fred,

Glad you and your son are enjoying your new trains. 

WBB couldn't ask for a better review. 

Any chance you could post some pictures?

You mentioned "...getting the Santa Fe..."

Which loco and cars are you thinking about? 

(Guessing you mean the Scale Hudson for the loco...)

Wish I had the room and a little extra cash available..

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[M1FredQ]

Hi Joe

My daughter is good at taking and posting pictures so as soon as I can get her

to help me I will do that.  From other posts I am going to have to get a Bachmann

Transformer as the CW-80 and my old ZW just won't cut it with this full scale

Hudson.

So I will be waiting for Christmas or after Christmas sales to see about the Santa Fe.

When I am down in Florida The Super Hobby Store outside Ft Lauderdale has really

good prices on O-Gauge TRains. That's where I found the Blue Comet Madison

cars that started this whole deal. I think they have a web site I'll try to find there

and post the web address