A dealer supplied us with the following excerpts from the letter Williams sent to its dealers. We posted it after we authenticated it with another source on a word for word basis. The letter is dated September 19, 2007.
Dear Williams Dealer:
"I have some important news. After 35 years, I have decided to retire from the model train business. Recently, I was approached by Bachmann Industries, and after careful consideration have decided to sell the company to them. The settlement date has not been finalized, but we expect it to be on or about September 30, 2007. Bachmann Industries has been in business since 1833 and has an impressive line of trains and accessories. Their Plasticville structures will perfectly compliment the Golden Memories Line.
All of your contact information has been given to Bachmann and company representatives will be contacting each dealer to give you more details and answer questions. They value your business as much as we do and will try to make this transition as smooth as possible. Additionally, Larry Harrington, my General Manager, will be joining Bachmann and will continue working on the O gauge line..."
NOTE: This is not the complete text of the letter. The rest contains wholesale contact information for the dealers.
Signed Jerry Williams President Williams Electric trains
Here's one for the Frenzy. Williams Heineken Boxcar. Heineken Licenses, no one. They only license material to be given to their dealers for advertising,. No resale items to end users.
rat
Posts: 4739 | Location: Ratville | Registered:: December 17, 2002
Bachmann just posted the following on their message board
"Dear all,
Yes, we are talking with Williams, but at this time nothing has been finalized. If/when a formal aggreement is reached, we will make an official announcement. In the meantime, enjoy your trains!
I hate to see a good friend leave. Williams got me back into this hobby many years ago. No I am not bashing anyone. I buy what I like from who ever makes it.
...keep the rails polished...
Posts: 1795 | Location: In The Basement | Registered:: January 09, 2003
Wow, This is certainly some major news. Jerry Williams packing it in after 35 years in business. I wonder how many people out there really know what Jerry Williams has done for the three rail O Gauge hobby. We can make all the jokes we want about Williams products but without Jerry Williams this hobby surly wouldn't be where it is today. Jocko D
Posts: 298 | Location: Long Island, New York | Registered:: January 14, 2006
I've actually dreaded this one more than the Lionel/MTH/K-Line go-rounds. Where are we going to buy affordable and durable trains now? What happens to the Golden Memories line? Lionel has been p--sing & moaning about Postwar copies since Kughn owned it. Will Bachmann hold the line? Plus, next month is York - is Williams going to be there? Ah well, however this turns out : Thank you Jerry Williams for all the things I would not have had otherwise, the Madison cars, scale Hudson, the brass Hudson (well, I liked it), the FM Trainmaster, the GG-1, GP-9, 2400 series cars, quite a bit actually. Thanks Jerry !
It appears that there was some truth to the rumors of a Williams sale after all. Until this new information came out it was only speculation. Hopefully, Bachmann will continue the Williams Lines completely as there is a loyal market for their products.
With Bachmann's financial support perhaps the O gauge product lines will expand. In any case Bachmann now has a stake in the O gauge train market.
My second train, a Williams Santa Fe Baldwin Shark with matching Madison cars, really got me excited about the hobby and made me a satisfied Williams customer.
I guess the upcoming trip to York will include some Williams purchases from Marty. I've taken for granted the availability of Williams items and have put off some purchases for years. Now is the time to aquire the remaning items.
What happens to the lifetime warranty? Where do we go for repairs now?
This message has been edited. Last edited by: ChessieMan,
Chessie Man Moving Black Diamonds from the Alleghanies to Tidewater.
THis might have been mentioned already, but I can only hope that Bachman will continue the Williams name and product as they are....kind of like Lionnel continued the K-Line name and logo. I too, always thought Williams would always be around forever. Hopefully the people at Bachman will look at all these posts about the sale of Williams.
...keep the rails polished...
Posts: 1795 | Location: In The Basement | Registered:: January 09, 2003
Some six years ago (fourty years after buying my last toy train) I casually strolled into the Allentown First Frost meet. What a surprise to see hundreds of guys eagerly drooling over scores of tables filled with stuff I had never known existed. My excitement was building, tempered only by the prices of trains that exceded my mortgage payment. Then I stopped at "Charlies" table filled with Willimans trains. I had never heard of the company but the product sure looked sturdy. I bought a Lehigh Valley GP38 rest is history. I've enjoyed that relatively low-tech engine, purchased for not much more than a hundred dollars. While I have succumbed to some of the higher end engines of Lionel, MTH, Weaver and Atlas, I've always appreciated Williams making it possible to re-enter the hobby at a low price point, and have encouraged guys younger than I to build quality 'starter' sets for ther sons using Williams engines and rolling stock. I am not so romantically attached to the name, but surely hope Bachman maintains the quality that many OGR posters have attested to. How nice would it be to see Bachman include some Plasticville structures in new starter sets?
Chuck TCA 04-57633
Posts: 2012 | Location: Allentown, PA | Registered:: January 23, 2005
