Bill Benson, long time railroader and model railroader, known for The American Freedom Train, Right of Way Industries, and the restoration of Reading 2100, died last Saturday.
RIP
Lou N
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
@Lou N posted:Bill Benson, long time railroader and model railroader, known for The American Freedom Train, Right of Way Industries, and the restoration of Reading 2100, died last Saturday.
https://www.eckardbaldwin.com/obituary/William-Benson
RIP
Lou N
That is sad to hear. I am a huge fan of ROW products. I have 5 engines, tons of coal cars, and two of the 400 watt transformers. ROW was ahead of its time in technology and quality. Bill contributed a lot to the community and will be remembered for his work. Rest in peace.
ROW fan, myself.
Rest in peace Bill !
RIP indeed & may God rest his soul. I was fortunate to attend one of his open houses in Akron & buy some nice engines back in the day.
Bill had quite a career, in both model trains and the 12-inch-to-the-foot scale stuff. He worked with Ross Rowland on the American Freedom Train back in 1976.
My condolences to the family.
I knew Bill quite well, and spoke at several of the open houses he held in Akron back when I worked with Kalmbach Publishing Co. At one time I had a good number of R-O-W locomotives; a bit of rolling stock; and a fair number of signals and other accessories. He always treated me well. Many who have been in the hobby for a long time also remember the Right-of-Way transformer as being the best one ever built, then or now.
I never met him but he was very forward thinking; I heard he said that he was not making trains for the masses. looking at the prices in the new Lionel catalogue, he was clearly ahead of his time with that thought.
I never met Bill, but I heard he made the hobby so much easier with his inventions over time. Rest in peace Bill, may your tender be full of coal and water, full head of steam, clear green lights ahead.
I met Bill about 8 or 9 years ago. We instantly became close and he was like a father to me. Over those year's I've helped him work on his train lay out at his home, and helped him keep his car collection running and looking good. He always had great stories to share with me and he taught me something new everyday. He's a good man, a good father and a good friend. It's unbelievable how much I miss this guy..
Ouch! And his trains back then looked much flashier because of their brass structure as of now! 
Mr. Benson will be sorely missed by many as he was ahead of his time. His models were the single most driving reason I reentered the hobby as the his locomotives with the flickering firebox glow caught my attention.
I've mentioned several times before how the Allegheny model by Right of Way came about. He was very open minded about things and was willing to take a chance to be first in the market with a great product.
Lou I know can testify to this as he worked for him. I was saddened to learn when the company closed and I'm equally saddened to learn of his passing.
May his soul be forever illuminated by God's divine light.
I was looking into buying a R-O-W Nickel Plate Berkshire for my model train collection. Since the engine came at about $660 on eBay, I had to put it on hold for my family's vacation to Tampa, Florida next month.
I always liked that transformer he built. I don't have one but maybe I'll find one someday.
I am among the many who purchased one of his transformers back in the 1990's. It was as all stated, ahead of its time with almost twice the wattage of a ZW and variable voltage, with volt meters, for the accessories as well as the two track circuits. But I quickly discovered there was one design flaw. It had no reverse button, you had to cycle the voltage knob on and off to reverse a postwar a sequence reverse train. I wrote Bill about that but did not receive a reply, so went ahead and installed two pushbuttons, one for each throttle. I still have that transformer, it is under the layout, still powering lights an accessories.
Wow! I cant believe I missed this thread! While I never met Mr. Benson, I did buy the T1, the Rowi transformer in exchange for my postwar z transformer and finally the last loco from him, the ALCo PA-1. For his time, he did bring a "breath of fresh air" to a somewhat stale o guage market.
It was a shame that he let his guard down on the FT fiasco that ultimately cost him the R.O.W.I. business. I will remember him for the innovative products that he did bring to market and are still running today!
"the FT fiasco"
?
My condolences to his family and friends.
-Greg
