Yes we are talking about the same thing.  Mine is wired to the post-war ZW per my initial post, not a Powerhouse.  I don't know if that matters or not, I am pretty sure it basically rebuilds the waveform itself for my setup, but maybe it works differently when lashed to a Powermaster.

Aloso, my Powermasters are the old 6-12867.  Maybe you are using the 6-24130?   

>Use an MTH transformer or...

Dude, seriously.  I have a 10yr old layout with the (4) transformers well buried underneath, it was built from scratch to be controlled with CAB-1's.  Not gonna change that for 1 streetcar that was an impulse buy.

I'm thinking my Powermasters are about that vintage (bought them used off Ebay) so their output circuitry may well be identical.  I sure hope there is a workaround as per Protosounds,  my ZW resides under the layout!

Works fine on a postwar ZW.  With the Powermaster the interior lights come on and the bell works sortof (not always and a weird pause).  But it will not go into forward.  I have cleared the Powermaster stall speed and verified with a voltmeter.

I have one Powermaster track rigged for Protosounds (added capacitance) but it doesn't work on that track either.