ZWs here there, everywhere.

Thats a ZW-C. Its does require bricks for power. Know that the bricks are reliable but that piece you have is not. Don’t be surprised after you get a brick or two that it doesn’t work. Still worth getting the bricks if you operate in command mode.

Pete

Thank you, Pete.

I seem to recall that I have two bricks somewhere at the bottom of the huge pile, so I will experiment.

But the knowledge that the bricks are problematic is interesting.  Vee shall see vot vee shall see.  Thanks again.

Hmmm, I bought a completely refurbished ZW 3 months ago on eBay, and it's been great.  It doesn't have the prongs next to the post.  So that's the 'C' version?  I've seen discussion about power bricks, and never understood what the heck was meant.  So this newer ZW doesn't output power directly?  The power output comes from external bricks?  Is the new ZW-L like the C or more like the original ZW but with new tech?

@Byron Hurder posted:

Thank you, Pete.

I seem to recall that I have two bricks somewhere at the bottom of the huge pile, so I will experiment.

But the knowledge that the bricks are problematic is interesting.  Vee shall see vot vee shall see.  Thanks again.

The bricks are not problematic, its the control unit in your picture that fails.

The bricks are simply a 120 to 18vac transformer with a fast breaker. The ZW-C has circuitry that let you use the handles like a post war ZW or respond to a TMCC Cab1 to control track voltage remotely.

Pete

@texgeekboy posted:

Is the new ZW-L like the C or more like the original ZW but with new tech?

There is no comparison between the two. The ZWL is self contained like the original ZW and in my opinion is the pinnacle of modern transformers. Such is the price.

@Byron Hurder posted:

But the knowledge that the bricks are problematic is interesting.  Vee shall see vot vee shall see.  Thanks again.

The bricks are NOT problematic, it's the ZW-C controller that has all the problems.  I have the same bunch of PH180 bricks that I've had for years, the only issues have been someone dropped two of them over the years and I had to do some epoxy on the Bakelite cases.  My bricks used to travel around with the modular club layout, they got handled a lot.  Nowadays, four of them are in one place with no danger of being dropped, the others are in a big box under the layout.

@romiller49 posted:

There is no comparison between the two. The ZWL is self contained like the original ZW and in my opinion is the pinnacle of modern transformers. Such is the price.

Rod,

I was going to give you a hard time but thank goodness I did a little checking before I hit 'Enter'.

For the a number of years the ZW-L had a flaw.  There were no replacement parts available.  This meant that if it broke out-of-warranty you'd have trouble getting it fixed.

Until recently you could have checked lionelsupport.com to confirm this.

But at least one miracle has occurred with the recent transition to the new Lionel parts website.

       Surprise!  The parts are suddenly there!

I can now say with some confidence that it's a good transformer, even if a little pricey.

Thanks for your positive comments and for forcing me to check the site.

Mike

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

       Surprise!  The parts are suddenly there!

What isn't a surprise is virtually all of the parts are unavailable!  The listing is somewhat pointless.

Wow, I never realized the ZWL has so many parts. I hope I never have to eat my words.