Wiz-Kid at TonysTrainsIt actually has the screw terminals for J3 as well.The potential to easily power the frog, control LEDs w/o a resistor, set up auto-throw while powering from the track all in one package intrigues me.Wondering about anyone else's experience with it; recommendations for setting it up; things to watch out for. Specifically, is the lag time for the auto-throw to engage quick enough to avoid most problems?I picked one up and will set up a test track to play with it.ThanksGlenn
Glenn -- PRR in Georgia
There is a thread currently where no one has anything good to say about Tonys Trains. I don't have anything positive to add to the the discussion.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
From my perspective, the biggest thing to watch out for is wasting your money on these things.
It just adds another seventeen bucks to already very costly turnouts. A Walthers turnout is about $30. Add a Tortoise for another $17.45 and you're already looking at $47.50 for one turnout. With this "Wiz-kid" thing at $16.95, you're looking at nearly sixty-five bucks for a single turnout, and that doesn't even take into account wire and switches.
You can accomplish most of what this thing seems to do if you'll just pick up a soldering iron and do ten minutes of additional work.
But that's just my opinion. If this thing is worth the cost to you, that's what counts.
Hmmm... I have a bunch of extra Tortoises from a layout I built a couple decades ago. If new ones are over $17, I wonder if I can sell my used ones for about ten bucks each at a train show?
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
I have used the Wiz-Kids successfully where I want auto-throw without the need for auto reversal. For example a yard entrance approach from the "wrong" direction. It corrects for opererators not properly aligning turnouts when they exit the yard. Also useful where two trains may independently approcah the frog end of a turnout on different tracks. The Wiz-Kid can automatically select the correct position for the first train but you had better halt the second train in time to prevent a collision or derailment.
They can be a bit sensitive to switching spikes caused by other turnout controls so I have added small capacitors to the control lines at the Wiz-Kid terminals. Also, the tortoise will take about 2 seconds to fully operate so I place the sense points 24-30 inches ahead of the turnout. The sense track sections should be at least 6 inches long to ensure a loco will be detected.
As for Tony's, I just ordered some Soundtraxx and Kadee products on line. They shipped within about a week and arrived all OK. I've had very good response from Tony's both on line and by telephone.
Possibly they have installed a Mark Pruitt filter on their system
CharlieMPossibly they have installed a Mark Pruitt filter on their system