Williams O gauge E7 diesel

WHILE STIFF COMPETITION among the bigger boys of the toy train world pushes O gauge locomotives to new levels of sophistication, Williams has found its niche producing well-made toy trains – minus some of the frills – at a price that is well within reach of most operators. Among the newest items on Williams’ list is one of the premier diesels of the postwar era.

The Electro-Motive E7 is a 4,000-horsepower diesel with A1A-A1A trucks (two powered axles and one idle axle). More than 500 A and B units were sold to 28 U.S. railroads. The E7 was a capable diesel that soldiered on for 30 years or more through mergers, changing paint schemes, and the demise of for-profit rail travel.

The model

There are two good resources for E7 diesels: “The Essence of the E7,” Trains Magazine, January 1979, and an 11-part history of the E7 published in Model Railroading Magazine in 1996 and ’97. Both reveal many individual modifications made to E7s over time by their owners.

The most common modification was to seal the “windows” in the sides of the carbody or to replace them with louvers or portholes. Some roads chose more exotic modifications, such as sealing the forward hatch, adding stirrups and grab irons over the nose, or adding spark arresters. Williams chose to create a generic “factory fresh” E7. While it may not be exactly like the E7 owned by your favorite carrier, the title “one size fits all” applies to this pleasing model.

Prior to the delivery of the Williams locomotives, several readers speculated that these engines were somehow made with re-worked Williams F7 tooling (Williams F7s can trace their ancestry to the 1950s and AMT molds.) A comparison of the two shows the E units are clearly from new tooling.

Coupler-to-coupler, a single A-unit measures 133/4 inches, or 71 feet in O scale, a smidge under the 71 feet, 11/3 inches of the real thing.

Together, the A-A duo is more than 26 inches long, and, though these engines operate on O-31 curves, they look pretty awkward doing so. Even running on O-42 curves is a visual squeeze, but the locomotive looks fine on O-54 and larger curves.

The E7 offers see-through side screens and nifty, prototypical “picture windows” along its sides instead of the portholes more commonly found on F units and some other E-units.

There are add-on handrails and grab irons on all side doors, above the cab windows, and on both sides of the Mars light on the nose.

The engine is powered by a pair of flywheel-equipped motors. It has a sheet-metal frame and ladders and a heavy die-cast metal fuel tank. The plastic shell has skirting for the fuel tank. The three-axle trucks and couplers are die-cast metal. The trucks are good representations of EMD A1A trucks (noted for equal spacing between axles compared to non-Flexicoil EMD three-axle trucks with uneven axle spacing).

We examined the Williams Atlantic Coast Line and New York Central engines, and the painting and decoration were exemplary. The ACL engine, was particularly well done, and the lines of the purple paint and yellow striping were as straight as a razor. The complex NYC and sleek ACL schemes were carefully applied, even though paint lines run along rows of rivets and over doorways on the designs.

On the two engines there is a subtle, clever application of silver paint to highlight kickplates (reinforcements of the carbody so that the boots of those pesky engineers won’t dent the metal). There is also a splash of red highlighting on the fuel tank, and a nice EMD builder’s plate.

On the test track

Performance of the E7 was superb. The engine took very little time to break in and operation was nearly silent. We measured a low-end speed average of 16.1 scale mph and a high-end average of 157.2 scale mph.

The A-A combo weighs 8 pounds, 10 ounces (5 pounds for the powered unit, 3 pounds, 10 ounces for the dummy). Our average of the duo’s drawbar pull was 2 pounds, 13 ounces, or roughly 135 modern pieces of rolling stock.

This bad boy can move freight, too! With a 25-unit train of mixed brand and vintage cars in tow at 18 volts, we timed this rig at 112.5 scale mph.

We noticed that when pulling a heavy passenger train (six Williams Madison cars and the dummy E7) through O-42 curves, the locomotive would bog down more than other engines we’ve tested in recent months. Once through the curve, the train would resume its normal pace. On O-54 or O-72 curves, slowdown was negligible.

We encountered a bit of spurious derailing on uneven track. The track was to blame, but the E7s are a bit more sensitive to rough track than other locomotives. Each unit has two pickup rollers spaced 121/2 inches apart for good contact over switches.

The powered E7 has two headlights; the top fixture is a “Mars” light with simulated flashing. The light’s effect is clever, and it turns on and off in response to the locomotive’s E- unit.

Williams’ True Blast II is a novel revision of the firm’s digital horn. One tap on the transformer button prompts the locomotive horn to blow a long-long- short-long pattern – the same pattern locomotives use when approaching grade crossings.

If you want a single blast of the horn, however, you’re out of luck. The reproduction of the horn sound and the tone are good, but not at the level of the more sophisticated Lionel RailSounds or MTH’s ProtoSound 2.0 systems. You have the option of ordering a full sound system from Williams (with engine and crew sound effects) for $100 more, but the basic product gets by well enough on its own.

All things considered, the Williams E7 diesel is a large, attractive, and affordable diesel that delivers smooth performance.