Each to his own. But Lionel's engineers obviously thought it was a good idea as a safety device, and that's how the system was designed. You modify the components at your own risk, which as a knowledgeable person, is quite reasonable for you. But most of us do not have your technical knowledge and are better off using these devices as designed. Hence the lockon. The possible misadventure is not responding quickly enough to a short circuit and causing damage to the locomotive(s). The lockon, according to some sources, including Lionel, acts more quickly than the Powerhouse circuit breaker. Most of the time it may not matter I'd guess, but faster is better if it doesn't trip unnecessarily.
The lockon does not reset until the short circuit is resolved, so I don't see that as a problem. It's a feature, not a bug 
. I've never experienced a false short circuit detection with the two lockons I've used in a decade's use so I suspect your experience is possibly due to the particularly setting in which you were using it. Perhaps a low level intermittent short at that point in the track? The lockon is highly sensitive, which is part of the design. It doesn't entirely mitigate the need for TVS, but I'd speculate it may minimize the likelihood of damage in the absence of a TVS. I've never burned out a TMCC loco in 20 or so years of operation, which seems better than most people's experiences, and I have plenty of TVS's, just never installed them .
In summary, Lionel designed the Powerhouse to work with the Lockon or with the ZW-C or the Powermaster. That's what all the rest of us might be wise to do unless we have substantial expertise in electronics/electrical equipment at a professional level.
