Williams Electric Trains

Founded in 1971 by Jerry Williams (1937 - 2016) in Columbia, MD, as a maker of reproduction Lionel and Ives 'O' and Standard gauge trains, originally produced in the 1920's & 1930's. At the outset the company was called Williams Reproductions Limited. All reproduction trains were made of steel, using the same gauge as the originals. Items were manufactured in limited runs, and some came in a solid redwood custom made box with special engraving on the ends and top. Most of the locomotives and cars came in unpainted 'Repli-Kits' or fully painted in colors that matched the originals. The company also offered restoration parts. Jerry Williams had come from Classic Model Corp., another Maryland based maker of Standard gauge trains. Around 1975 Williams began to shift attention to the 'O' gauge post-war era market, first with kits and then with completed models. In the mid to late 1980's, Jerry explored making scale-size locomotives for 3-rail track. In 2007, the company was sold to Bachman Industries, where the train line today is known as Williams by Bachmann.