How many remember the "old" ROW products?

That's what i kind of thought. If they did that know wonder they went out of business.

So, that's what Tom McComas meant when he said, "Hey Bill! We're still waiting on those die cast F-3's you promised us!!"

Saw these today at the Great Midwest train show in Wheaton, Illinois. I'm sure you could

buy them for a good price. 

franktrain

FMC posted:

Right of way crossing signals. Supurb product. Prototypical flashing circuit and an optional warning bell sound that sounds for 12 seconds. 

FMC; One of the best sets around. And always a crowd pleaser.

Rod

RICKC posted:

Those of you that went to York back then in the day should remember the layout that Bill would put up in the building next to the grandstand.  One of the magazines had a picture of it years ago.  Don't know if it was OGR or someone else.  It was pretty big.  They also displayed their products there too.

Rick

I too remember the display they had.  I bought a bunch of their switches which are still in use.  I was wondering in hindsight why I would have bought them back then?  Were they cheaper?   Selection?  They still work with Tortise machines.

My memory's not so good but that display was pretty big with real wide radius curves.  They had big locos running with nice consists.  Anyone recall the years they had that display at York?  

As I recall Benson was credited with the line that "ROWI was for doctors and lawyers who could afford his products.  All others could buy Lionel."

It's one thing to do this but another to actually say it. 

At the time this was a real turn-off.

But times change and I guess that explains the popularity of certain political figures.

R-O-W transformer.  Had one on the Cincinnati modular layout, never got warm running double headed MTH Challengers and Big Boys pulling fairly long strings of hoppers.  I bought ours used from Davis Trains after Jim Barrett looked it over.   ROW also had a 'brick',  not sure of the output.    Also offered a six pack of hoppers,  Joe steered me away from them, don't know why.    John

woojr posted:

RICKC posted:

Those of you that went to York back then in the day should remember the layout that Bill would put up in the building next to the grandstand.  One of the magazines had a picture of it years ago.  Don't know if it was OGR or someone else.  It was pretty big.  They also displayed their products there too.

Rick

I too remember the display they had.  I bought a bunch of their switches which are still in use.  I was wondering in hindsight why I would have bought them back then?  Were they cheaper?   Selection?  They still work with Tortise machines.

My memory's not so good but that display was pretty big with real wide radius curves.  They had big locos running with nice consists.  Anyone recall the years they had that display at York?  

I joined the TCA in 1989 and was a guest back in 1988. I am pretty sure the ROWI layout was on display back then and for a few years later in the back building. I remember that Weaver (?) used to have a display layout under the grandstand.

Donald

Originally posted by Jim R:

 Once the manufacturer quits making them, there is very little of anything to put in storage, aside from a few cast parts.
 That's why brass locomotives are difficult to repair.

Sorry Jim but Brass locomotives are Easy to repair-Much easier than Die cast. Brass is malleable so one can straighten out dents and dings and solder gashes if needed. There are many cast Brass parts from OSA and PSC to repair/detail both steam and diesel locomotives. Crack a die cast shell and good luck!there are a lot more cracked Lionel steamers from the 40's to current than there are damaged brass locomotives. Ask any seasoned o scaler.

I also have two ROW transformers on the layout.  Great product.

These photos show 5 of my 6 ROW locomotives.  I bought them within the past 6 years when their prices had plummeted. The whistle of the C&O 2-6-6-2 is the wonder of the age.  Inasmuch as I'm a creature of the 20th rather than the 21st century I happily run these locomotives on "conventional" even with my MTH Z4000.  They roll around my 0-54 track with absolutely no trouble and can even handle the 0-42. I like the feel of brass and I think they are beautiful.  I also have several of the ROW brass cabooses as well as a bunch of the Benson promotional material.  I really liked the brochure that showed increasing ROW used sales values in comparison with Weaver and others.  Little did he know that his expensive creations would depreciate by 50-75% by 2005 primarily because of technological obsolescence.

Running ROW today is a bit risky, because if something breaks it is difficult if not impossible to find spare parts.  But they are beautiful shelf queens and the C&O 2-6-6-2 continues to roll along.

Lew Schneider

Marty Fitzhenry posted:

I also have two ROW transformers on the layout.  Great product.

Thank you Marty. I have one that sees regular use. 

Lou N

Thank you Lew. 

That sound system was the first ever digital onboard system for a model train. The whistle is as close to the real thing as possible. Where we couldn't find the real thing in operation we went to whistle collectors to get the correct sound. 

That's how I met Rich Melvin.  Recorded 765 in Orville one Sunday morning for the ROW berkshire. 

Lou N

A Southern Pacific version of the dockside.  Bought in the 90s, never had the sound car.  Runs very well.  Good detail.

Bill

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

Originally posted by Jim R:

 Once the manufacturer quits making them, there is very little of anything to put in storage, aside from a few cast parts.
 That's why brass locomotives are difficult to repair.

Sorry Jim but Brass locomotives are Easy to repair-Much easier than Die cast. Brass is malleable so one can straighten out dents and dings and solder gashes if needed. There are many cast Brass parts from OSA and PSC to repair/detail both steam and diesel locomotives. Crack a die cast shell and good luck!there are a lot more cracked Lionel steamers from the 40's to current than there are damaged brass locomotives. Ask any seasoned o scaler.

Not quite the kind of repair I was referring to.

And the kind of handcrafted repairs you're talking about are far more rare. Very few do it.

Cracked diecast shells. Really? An extreme example to make your point.

But I can find replacement postwar shells a lot easier than I could find someone to fix mangled brass.

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

I can't forget ROW. About a third of the switches on my layout are from them. I have to say they look and sound much better in the catalog. They weren't too bad when they were new.

Unlike Ross, they lacked the splines that hold the ties in place. So when they were taken up from their original installation, they became unstable, with shifting ties and moving rails, i.e. they fall apart because they were only held together with super glue and cheap spikes.

If you are in the market for used switches, caveat emptor! I have seen numerous occasions where people try to pass them off as Ross, some deliberately, some unwittingly. They should sell for a lot less than Ross. Ask to see the bottom!

I have quite a few of them also.  Since I alway use cork roadbed under my track, I glued them to a sheet of cork to stablize them.  I also found that the points tended to break loose from the little nail attached thru the throw bar. Always had to resolder them. They didn't play well with slide shoes either.  Retired most of them in favor of Ross switches.

Tom