I distinctly remember them cataloguing an F40PH. Didn't bite at the time (probably either didn't have the $$, or was leery of sending a deposit), and heard after many, many delays that the company closed up shop. Heard later than that about folks losing deposits.
All I have from them is a quartet of double-stack cars (whose tooling was subsequently acquired or cloned by Menards).
---PCJ
MNCW posted:Allan Miller posted:MNCW posted:I don't think anyone mentioned the C-16 Dockside which Right-Of-Way produced:
Tom
Best little Dockside ever produced in O. There's not even a close second. I could still kick myself for selling the B&O version I had.
One little bonus, I forget how many were produced (maybe 500?). Anyway, the number that was assigned to mine when built by Right-Of-Way falls in the range of numbers that the B&O had for them (#96-#99). I have #96.
Tom
Tom,
600 pieces.
Lou N
Allan Miller posted:Their transformer is still regarded as the most powerful and perhaps the finest ever made for the O scale/gauge segment of our hobby.
The Right-of-Way transformer was stated by ROW as "approaching 400 watts of power." Lionel's ZW-L transformer is rated at 620 watts. Of course, the ROW has two channels and the ZW-L has four, so perhaps the ROW is still the most powerful on a per-channel basis.
The big thing I remember Bill boasted about was that their locomotives could run for 2 weeks nonstop and would still be working. That is impressive, especially by 1991 standards.
It’s a shame they shut down so soon, and finding these are a lot harder for me today.
Sid's Trains posted:VistaDomeScott posted:I thought it was an F40PH they were supposed to produce?
I have always heard it was some engine with a f in the designation. I have seen f units the most and with the products that they had produced and what was popular at the time, an f unit makes sense.
It was the die cast FT that deposits were taken. This story has been reported from time to time right here on this forum. The deposits were taken Them Rowi gave the funds without a secure letter of credit to his Korean firm. His firm went bankrupt and vanished with the money leaving Rowi holding the proverbial bag. Rowi didn't have the funds to give back to the depositors so Rowi paid dearly by getting das Boot from the T.C.A. and declaring bankruptcy after promising the loco for over 3 years.
The Amtrak F40 and superliner sets were not done along with the GP60 and Roadrailer sets as well.
ROW made some great high quality trains but bad business decisions led to Bill Benson's company declaring bankruptcy. It closed its doors and place of business towards the end of 1996. From what I have read about Bill, he led the high life and bled the business dry. Mr Benson reportedly had at the time a huge 30' x 60' layout, a large classic car collection and a huge home in Ohio. The ROW story and K-Line's both ended (under far different circumstances) but I really miss both former train companies. Today my layout runs quite a few K-Line pieces but no ROW stuff.
Dennis LaGrua posted:ROW made some great high quality trains but bad business decisions led to Bill Benson's company declaring bankruptcy. It closed its doors and place of business towards the end of 1996. From what I have read about Bill, he led the high life and bled the business dry. Mr Benson reportedly had at the time a huge 30' x 60' layout, a large classic car collection and a huge home in Ohio. The ROW story and K-Line's both ended (under far different circumstances) but I really miss both former train companies. Today my layout runs quite a few K-Line pieces but no ROW stuff.
Yeah, I have heard the K-line story as well and both companies closing were big blows to the market.
@rattler21 posted:Does anyone have the Baltimore & Ohio green Railway Express Agency wagon top boxcar with sounds? John
The green and blue B&O wagon tops had the lowest production numbers. 25 I think. Those are hard to find.
Lou N
I ran into one on eBay several years ago which did not have a chassis just the body shell. Having a spare Atlas chassis from their 1970s line of O scale cars I did a little cutting on the chassis and It dropped right into place. No sound though and I would not sell it. j
@Sid's Trains posted:From what I know, they were going to be making diecast or some other locomotive. They took deposits and in the process the manufacturer went belly up and also screwed Right of Way. Bill Benson then closed the company and took the deposits. That's the story I have heard.
Well from what I herd Bill neglected to get bonding for the deposit monies. The mfg went belly up and took the deposit monies Bill gave to the mfg to start the die cast FT A-B locomotive. Bill was left "Holding an empty bag" with nothing to give back to the depositors. Depositors complained to the TCA, Bill got "Das Boot" from the TCA then closed the company since trust was broken with his high roller buyers.
@VistaDomeScott posted:I thought it was an F40PH they were supposed to produce?
They were along with an NS GP60 and a Roadrailer Train. Both were cancelled.
Business practices aside my 0-4-0 docksider is one of my favorites. Bought and dumped the mth version. This critter runs flawlessly at a low speed conventionally.
@rattler21 posted:Does anyone have the Baltimore & Ohio green Railway Express Agency wagon top boxcar with sounds? John
I do have one, green with sound. My green is 59 of 65, but how many of those had sound? I’d like to know the numbers of all of them. I know the green and brown came with sound I don’t know if sound was available in all colors. Both trucks had pickups.
There were 50 Blue and 60 Brown. I don't have a number for the Red.
38152 Boxcar, Brown, B&O ROWI
38153 Boxcar, Red, B&O ROWI
38154 Boxcar, Blue, B&O ROWI
38155 Boxcar, Green, B&O ROWI
Steve
Makes me feel like a REALLY old coot to sit here and lament the passing of ROW, AND, K-Line, Weaver, Williams, and ??? , As well as several model material suppliers.
Not depressed already? Not sure if you are including all the train stores who have folded too over the years.
Tom
@L & N posted:There were 50 Blue and 60 Brown. I don't have a number for the Red.
38152 Boxcar, Brown, B&O ROWI
38153 Boxcar, Red, B&O ROWI
38154 Boxcar, Blue, B&O ROWI
38155 Boxcar, Green, B&O ROWISteve
Steve,
What ROW locomotive do you lash the boxcar together with and how good are the sounds?
Tom
@PRR8976 posted:Steve,
What ROW locomotive do you lash the boxcar together with and how good are the sounds?
Tom
Tom,
The sound boxcars were specifically made to go with the 0-4-0 Dockside locomotives. (No room for sound in there.) Both the car and locomotive had mating connectors. While I do own 2 of the Docksides, I've never used the sound. I would expect the sound to be similar to other ROWI locomotives that had sound. Maybe Lou N can say if the sound board was the same as what was installed in the larger locomotives. ROWI was the first with digital sound. As they are 30 years old, the sounds, by current standards, are probably just OK. Of course sound quality is subjective.
Steve
@rattler21 posted:John,
What do you think one with Sounds would be worth?
John
John, sorry I haven't a clue. I gave about $25 for the body shell. Do a search on eBay and check the box for Completed ads. You can also check a box and they will email you when one is listed. I would word my search a couple of ways and check the box to have an email from each of your searches. Be prepared to get a lot of non-relevant emails. Good Luck. j
@Sid's Trains posted:Yeah, I also have one of their signals, sound box car, coal cars, and two of their transformers.
I have this stock car; had no idea who made it. Never even knew ROW made rolling stock. Thought lokes and trannies were the only products. I was thinking it was by Frank’s Roundhouse, or KMT/AMT.
2nd picture, too dark, shows the hole in the stamped sheet metal frame. I guess for a sound volume knob?
FROM RICH MELVIN: I retouched the second image in Photoshop. Now you can see the hole.
I think they offered stock cars with chicken or cow sound modules installed inside. Likely it was for part of the controlling switches.
R-O-W also had a line called ScalePlate (that green B&O boxcar posted by L & N above may be from that product line):
Ignore the writing on the box, that was on it when I bought it. The MAERSK container and an orange SCHNEIDER container (not shown) are by MTH although stacked they both will not fit in the box..
@prrhorseshoecurve posted:They were along with an NS GP60 and a Roadrailer Train. Both were cancelled.
Only single prototypes were made. Locos by Ajin.
Lou N
@L & N posted:Tom,
The sound boxcars were specifically made to go with the 0-4-0 Dockside locomotives. (No room for sound in there.) Both the car and locomotive had mating connectors. While I do own 2 of the Docksides, I've never used the sound. I would expect the sound to be similar to other ROWI locomotives that had sound. Maybe Lou N can say if the sound board was the same as what was installed in the larger locomotives. ROWI was the first with digital sound. As they are 30 years old, the sounds, by current standards, are probably just OK. Of course sound quality is subjective.
Steve
The sound modules were all the same. Jumper selected functions (steam or diesel). Sounds were selected by using different memories (EPROMs).
We would go out into the field to get correct sounds. The Dockside has a hand pull bell recorded after dinner one night at Quaker Square in Akron. Quaker Square had a few prototype locomotives there. This was a tank engine bell.
It was the first onboard digital sound using correct sound files. True, however, that current standards are certainly better. I recorded sounds using my wife's portable cassette player, loaded them into an Antex board in an IBM 386. For the audio inclined, bit depth was 8 bits and clock speed was 8kHz.
Lou N
@BenLMaggi posted:I think they offered stock cars with chicken or cow sound modules installed inside. Likely it was for part of the controlling switches.
Cars were Frank's Roundhouse. Hole in the bottom was for an off/on toggle switch.
Lou N
I was chasing my childhood trains, and was only hearing about and seeing ROW in shows, when it was prominent, (and not paying attention when history was happening) so appreciate all the knowledgeable contributions on here for the enlightenment, and for maybe preserving history.... kind of in the way that RMC had articles preserving other model brands' history. Another value of this forum...
@PRRMP54 posted:R-O-W also had a line called ScalePlate (that green B&O boxcar posted by L & N above may be from that product line):
The B&O Wagontops were not ScalePlate, they were in the same solid red boxes that all of the brass locomotives came in. See Tom's (PRR8976) pictures on page1.
Steve
I had the handsome Alco PA's in D&H paint. Strong runners with very good sound for the time. ROW was the only manufacturer who tried to simulate the stainless panels found on some diesels (The Santa Fe PA's had it as well) and the different finishes was striking. They were also made of brass and had a great amount of detail not found on any other 3 rail diesel locomotive, like windshield wipers, grab irons above the windows, lighted side number boards as well nose boards and small lights elsewhere that no one else had. If I remember correctly, they sold for $1400 at the time with no discounting that I was aware of. Yes, D&H had no B units...
Our club had a few donated double stack cars that were nice too.
I wish someone would remake the Docksider steamer that they made. It is a classy little locomotive.
@Lou N posted:The sound modules were all the same. Jumper selected functions (steam or diesel). Sounds were selected by using different memories (EPROMs).
We would go out into the field to get correct sounds. The Dockside has a hand pull bell recorded after dinner one night at Quaker Square in Akron. Quaker Square had a few prototype locomotives there. This was a tank engine bell.
It was the first onboard digital sound using correct sound files. True, however, that current standards are certainly better. I recorded sounds using my wife's portable cassette player, loaded them into an Antex board in an IBM 386. For the audio inclined, bit depth was 8 bits and clock speed was 8kHz.
Lou N
Superstar.
Ours on our layout. Still have the unopened factory furnished vial of smoke fluid. Single page instruction sheet:
DOCKSIDE OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS (on two lines)
April 28, 1992
ENGINE OPERATES BEST BETWEEN 0-15 V AC. REVERSING SWITCH IS LOCATED UNDER CAB ROOF VENT SMOKE UNIT ON/OFF SWITCH IS LOCATED IN FRONT OF SMOKE STACK
THIS ENGINE IS WIRED FOR SOUND WITH THE OPTIONAL BOX CAR YOU CAN HAVE WHISTLE BELL & CHUG AND AIR PUMP
THIS ENGINE HAS BEEN LUBRICATED AT FACTORY, SO ENGINE IS READY TO RUN. ADD LIGHT OIL TO AXLE BEARINGS SIDE RODS AND ROLLER PICKUPS, AND GREASE BOX AFTER 1 HOUR BREAK IN TIME
HAPPY RAILROADING RIGHT-OF-WAY INDUSTRIES STAFF (on two lines)
s/ W.B.Benson W. B.. BENSON PRESIDENT (on three lines)
John
@Lou N posted:Only single prototypes were made. Locos by Ajin.
Lou N
Darn shame on those cancelled productions. I would have sprung for both sets!
I don't want to derail this thread but the only cattle cars with sound I can recall were those offered by QSI. I don't know who made their cars but the electronics were theirs and the switches for on/off and changing sounds were all inside and accessible through the side door. Power was a 9V battery. This CB&Q is an example
They might be what I was thinking of.
@Robert S. Butler posted:I don't want to derail this thread but the only cattle cars with sound I can recall were those offered by QSI. I don't know who made their cars but the electronics were theirs and the switches for on/off and changing sounds were all inside and accessible through the side door. Power was a 9V battery. This CB&Q is an example
The QSI's used the same Frank's Roundhouse cars (different roadnames) but they are completely different boards and circuit designs. Totally unrelated.
https://www.robertstrains.com/Frank10.htm
Steve
Thanks for that information L&N
@L & N posted:I do have one, green with sound. My green is 59 of 65, but how many of those had sound? I’d like to know the numbers of all of them. I know the green and brown came with sound I don’t know if sound was available in all colors. Both trucks had pickups.
Steve, The A end of my car has a plate in the center of the car immediately above the coupler. Is this the location of the receptacle for the plug from the 0-4-0? It may be removable. Thanks, John
@rattler21 posted:Steve, The A end of my car has a plate in the center of the car immediately above the coupler. Is this the location of the receptacle for the plug from the 0-4-0? It may be removable. Thanks, John
John,
I'm guessing by the label on your box that yours does not have sound.
The label of my box:
Steve
@c.sam posted:
I had the handsome Alco PA's in D&H paint. Strong runners with very good sound for the time. ROW was the only manufacturer who tried to simulate the stainless panels found on some diesels (The Santa Fe PA's had it as well) and the different finishes was striking. They were also made of brass and had a great amount of detail not found on any other 3 rail diesel locomotive, like windshield wipers, grab irons above the windows, lighted side number boards as well nose boards and small lights elsewhere that no one else had. If I remember correctly, they sold for $1400 at the time with no discounting that I was aware of. Yes, D&H had no B units...
Our club had a few donated double stack cars that were nice too.
$1400 sounds about right; saw some at the LCCA train show in Detroit; early 90's.
This ROW Alco photo below was taken on my layout a couple of weeks ago. Next project, now that my 2-4-0 Cab-forward is finished. The PA is due for a solid red GM&O paint job (PA 291 was solid red for a while), some earlier-era streamlined number boards, fixed pilot and ERR.
It runs well, with low gearing. Can practically crawl in conventional using my Powermaster and Lionel brick. 2 Pittmans w/no flywheels. It runs just fine without the flywheels; no train-derailing jerky stops even when I tried. Flywheels would be better, but, oh, well.
All ROW PA ABA's had tethers and pickups on all units. No dead spots. I will use the tethers to attach this GM&O PA to the only solid-red FA that the GM&O had (744); a plastic Williams FA dummy will be used, and will carry the ERR antenna. I will move one end of the ROW PB's tether to the Williams FA for AC pickup.
All brass. Nice. Not sure that there is any zinc at all, either (the truck components may be cast brass; must check). No plastic except for electrical insulation and the window glazing.
Filling in a few blanks....
The RoW PA's were $1400 list. I don't remember if the truck sideframes were brass or zamac.
RoW had the first sound cattle cars followed by QSI. QSI was waiting for their patent on pendulum activation to be complete before releasing their car.
Lou N
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