ZW transformers could be bought for $27 in the 6o's ?

Something that you are forgetting is the value of the dollar has changed significantly since 1965. $27.50 in 1965 is worth $211.00 today when you adjust for inflation. Madison had a deep stock of ZW's and so selling them at that price was not an issue to them. 

As for the sine wave question, that is better left to those with better electrical knowledge than I.

Yes, pure sine wave. I just checked on an inflation calculator and $28 in 1960 is equivalent to $225 in 2016.

THANKS for the fast replies ! & info !  

Also, you can get a good, serviced ZW for a lot less than $295 today...

I have one sitting on the bay right now for $135.  It didn't sell at $140.

That's the real market.

Alan

I bought a working ZW-R at the Big E show last January for $80.  I had my choice of two at that price.

Steven J. Serenska

The ZW market has changed in the last 10 years. It used to be $250 to $300 and now it's half that. Turns out that everybody had one in the basement or attic and repair parts are very available and inexpensive. It is wise to use a good electronic breaker after them though to avoid a derailment welding the engine to the track or causing big sparks.

These are great for following an older ZW...

http://www.traintekllc.com/dcc...ail-circuit-breaker/

In the early 1970's I purchased my first ZW transformer from Train Land in Lynbrook NY. It was a used 250 watt version. I think it was something like 20 or 25 dollars.

Thanks again  !  

To Cjack , thanks for info on the circuit breaker .  

To Alan ,  thanks for the ebay info .   I have to wait until after Christmas to see new budget .  

To PLCPROF , Good luck on your new adventure !   REMEMBER  HAVE FUN !  

To NOTCH 6  ,  Thanks for your info as well !  You have great videos .  

I have offered my very good/excellent ZW here at the OGR For Sale forum in this thread:

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...zw-shipping-included

I even reduced the price to only $115 with shipping INCLUDED (and shipping would be a chunk of money given the weight). To date I've got ZERO inquiries.

So, I'd say that the prices of ZW's have pretty much tanked.  Wishful thinking on the part of those asking $290+ for their ZW's.

Andre

WRGMILW posted:

Hi there 

I found this ad for Madison Hardware in the 60's in another post ! 

I am amazed at that price .   Used ZW transformers  at one hobby shop I go to is priced at$295 .  

Does  this transformer put out a pure sine wave ? 

 

Gas was 28 cents a gallon for regular when I started driving in 1968.  It's now $2.49 a gallon at the nearby local stations on this side of the county line.

Rusty

I don't think we were poor but we couldn't afford to by a ZW, and if we could, I only had 1 train, so Dad wasn't going to buy it anyway. A friend of mine had one and as soon as I started buying my own stuff, I had one too! But I am happy to still run my 2055 60+ years later! I got one car every xmas for a few years and still have them. All good memories. 

I never sat in a box seat at a ball game until I started buy the seats.   

My original ZW from Christmas 1958 was purchased at Macy's in White Plaines, NY. $39.95 was crossed out and $21.50 was the price.

Peter

The days of "A Dollar a Watt" for post war transformers is long over. I have 2 275 watt ZW's, I like them but if I could get even $250 a piece for them, I would sell them in a heart beat. I had one of them on my table at a couple of swap meets, priced at $150, no t even any offers, I still have it. That shop that has one priced for $295, will likely have that until the owner retires and closes shop, unless an Elmo comes along that doesn't know any better.

Doug

$27? I'm sure. My parents bought a new car in 1965 - I was 16 in '64 so this was something important to my teenage self - the sticker (factory window stickers were also fairly new) price was $3400 in round figures. New in the box. V-8, A/C (yes! a not universal thing, then), automatic, power steering, AM radio, mid-range trim. $3400.

So, yeah - that $27 was a lot more than it sounds like in the legendary "60's".

(That '65 Dodge Coronet with the 318 V-8 and a Torqueflite automatic took me through high school, college, a move to NC - and back - and all sorts of trouble and girl friends. So many miles. Couldn't kill it. The A/C never failed, either.) 

My original ZW was bought at Knepfer's Sporting Goods in Yonkers for $25.00. Must have been in 1956 when I also got the 2265WS Berkshire Freight Set that also came from Knepfer's.

Wow! Yes the Post War ZW's are almost worthless now. But I love them. I purchased 4 for about 50 dollars each back in the great recession of 2008. I used them religiously for about 4 years on the layout... now with the ZWL they sit under the layout gathering cobwebs...

I may break one out for the train under the tree this year!

I bought my post war ZW in the 1960's for $30.00 in Stratford CT. One of the 4 terminals didn't have an output, opened it and re-attached a wire to the terminal post and all 4 outputs worked. Have had the rollers and diodes replaced this past year. I won't give up my post war ZW, I added smaller circuit breakers(7 amp) to each output and TVS units but I will still use my old ZW.

Lee Fritz

Wow! Yes the Post War ZW's are almost worthless now

My buddy sold a ZW in a reproduction box for $100 at our local train show this past weekend. Not worthless in my book.

C W Burfle posted:

Wow! Yes the Post War ZW's are almost worthless now

My buddy sold a ZW in a reproduction box for $100 at our local train show this past weekend. Not worthless in my book.

I still see post war ZW's being sold for around $130.00 or more here in southeast Florida. Usually can't touch one for under $125.00 even at a train show.

I refuse to pay almost $800.00 for a new ZW-L! 

Lee Fritz