There are a lot of PA sets and other Right-of- Way items popping up lately. I am not familiar with these models, so do not know the quality or fidelity to scale. The prices generally reflect high quality brass. Anybody familiar with these things? Are the passenger cars $500 items, comparable to, say, Wasatch?
Easy to confuse with Right-O-Way, which is a 2-rail track supplier.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
i have used two of their steam engines and are pretty well detailed and run very nice. i have not really been around any other brass to compare them to
I may be biased (and also have a PA set posted online) so please consider mine strictly MY opinion but these are very nice units. Bill Benson among other things was owner or part owner of a real T1 4-8-4 that was being restored (the Reading?) if memory serves me correctly. He produced a high quality line of brass steam locomotives and the PA's in ABA sets. They had Pittman motors which became the standard for quality and performance in 3 rail O for many years and QSI (Not Protosound) electronics that did not need a battery. Although somewhat dated by today's standards, the sounds can be surprisingly good. Our D&H PA's have a wonderful Alco sound set with the famous 'Alco Bark' that is quite distinctive.
Benson had brass freight cars, brass passenger cars, modern Double Stacks, scale RR signals, and the like. Most would agree that R.O.W. items are of high quality and unique. Some consider them highly collectible due to low production runs for most items. Our D&H PA's are from a run of just 50. These are the only Brass PA's in 3 Rail O. Have you ever priced 2 Rail Brass?
c.sam - Yes, the first Reading T-1, No. 2100. Richard Kughn was another owner. That is why Lionel offered a model (6-18006) in 1989.
Here is a Right-of-Way Dockside
The tether looks gray here but it is black. I assume that it connects to a sound system.
I am aware of 2-rail brass prices. I have never seen Right-of-Way brass in person, and was genuinely curious. So it sounds like this is equivalent to high end 2-rail, but the 3- rail community was not at the time able to support it?
I have compared the MTH PA to Key, and size and basic detail are comparable. Often, Hi Rail products are ever so slightly undersize.
I have a 0-4-0T. It is nicely detailed and runs slowly, something that was generally not easily obtained during the pre-tmcc or dcs era.
Disclaimer: I have never owned any R-o-W pieces.
I always thought of them as "high end 3 rail", and not equivalent to "high end 2-rail".
A while back , using 'bay as a guide, the stuff was by comparison being given away -- now the pendulum has swung the other way, in part due to one or two vendors who think these are really wonderful / collectible [ or is it collectable ], etc -- and no doubt think "buy low, sell high". Especially in 3 rail, a high price does not always equal "quality", using "quality" in a 2-rail sense [ fidelity / workmanship, primarily]. I do agree that they meet my criteria for a collectible item from a quantity / short lived producer standpoint -- the question is "at what price point ?"
Benson was a ground-breaker in the commercial "scale model on 3 rail track" area -- he even coined the phrase "Scale-Plate" [ and tm'd or copyrighted it as I recall ] -- and that describes his products very well.
If I were a three railer, especially 3RS -- I used to be, even a 3RS one [ before the term was created ] -- I think I would consider a R-o-W model only where no model of the same prototype [ a B&O articulated, perhaps ? ] had been made by in the past five, say, years, by the hvwt 3 rail vendors -- unless the price were exceptionally attractive. Somone else might have a different view, perhaps equally valid.
To not coin a phrase: Opinion.
No offence meant to the posters above or any others who like the models, of course.
Best rgds, SZ
Edited to add: A search on the OGR forum provides a number of photographs of RoW products, though mostly cabooses. But those can give you an idea of where in the "scale model spectrum" they fit.
Further edited to add: There is a very well illustrated set of "PRR" passenger cars currently on 'bay which answers exceptionally well bob2's original question. They are not even scale length, and the box end suggests 'one set fits all' irrespective of your road name. Etc, etc.
Are the passenger cars $500 items, comparable to, say, Wasatch?
IF you are looking for SCALE size, NO!
These are shortened 16" high quality brass cars with rollerbearing wheelsets that make them run smooth. HOwever NO interior detailing and frosted windows plus the standard Lionel type bayonette lightbulbs make them a high quality toy.
As for the Pa diesels, High quality SCALE diesels:
I recommend the Pa's. The GP60's, Ft's, and Amtrak F40 were never made.
Steamers are like Williams Crown Edition from Samhongsa. Great unique engines with minimal details. The PRR T1 is a bit Short[ more like MTH Imperial line with not as much detail but runs 042.
That's one of my favorite steamers Charlie, thanks for posting.
Does it have two vertical motors? Do you any good stills you could show?
c.sam
I think it has 2 motors but I bought it back in 1987 and have not run it much.
It is not a duplex design but articulated to navigate the O42 curves.
I think the brass cars are 16 inch long.
I will see if there are any stills, or when I get a chance put on the track for a portrait.
I would not give bill benson or his company the time of day. The worst train company that ever was. No morals. He cheated so many people it was amazing.
So what happened to Right-Of-Way? Seems like I'm always a day late and a $$$ short 
Wasn't ROW in the Akron, Ohio, area......? What DID happen to it..I'd heard there
was a real estate investment that went bad?...(plenty of those recently!!) Not
much was made of interest to me, as to prototype, but quality reviews on here are positive.
It must not have been profitable. I could get interested in the 0-4-0 and a PA, but am gun-shy, because I have not seen them in person, and assume he went out of the business for a reason related to the models. I don't think he was overpriced, given the comments above. But I have received information from confidential sources that indicate these might not be up to par for 2- rail conversion. I do believe the prices on the bay are inflated, even if the quality is as above. Opinion, of course. The original prices seemed reasonable at the time.
There is someone here on the forum who worked for Benson back then and I've heard him comment from time to time so perhaps he'll see this and enlighten us.
The company offered a set of die-cast F units that they took deposits on and then there were numerous delays and the models were never produced. My understanding at the time was that it was out of Benson's control but that he went under without refunding the many deposits paid. I've no idea of the amount or magnitude of the hit to customers.
The original price of the PA's was $1399 for the ABA sets in the early 1990s when Lionel's and Mike's were about $500-$600 when they came out several years later.
R.O.W. also made a large powerful AC transformer (before the Z4000) that was built like a tank and many are still in service today. He definitely strove to have a quality product.
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
