Model Rectifier Corp walk-around throttle

Hand-held remote throttle
Model Rectifier Corporation (MRC)
80 Newfield Avenue
Edison NJ 08837
Price: $42.98
Website: www.modelrectifier.com

Hand-held walk-around throttle (#0001325) to be used with MRC 9900 and 9950 powerpacks. Dimensions: length, 41/2″; width, 23⁄8″; thickness, 7⁄8″. Weight (not including cord), 2 1/2 oz.

Pros: Lightweight, hand-held device gives walk-around capability for controlling track-powered trains
Cons: Speed control not very sensitive; supplied cord only 46″ long

This hand-held unit is designed to give walk-around capability to operators using MRC’s 9900 or 9950 power packs. (We reviewed the 9950 pack in the August 2014 issue.) It comes with the hand unit itself and a four-wire telephone-type cord. The cord plugs into one socket on the handpiece and another on the front of the power pack. The walk-around cord is less than 4′ long, which seems pretty short.

After reading the brief instruction page, I hooked the hand piece up to the power pack and connected the latter to my test track. When the power pack and hand piece are tied together, either can be used to control the train, but only one at a time. Control is transferred from one unit to the other simply by pressing any button on either unit. The hand piece has a speed-control rheostat, a direction button, and a brake button. The power pack has additional momentum control, which cannot be accessed via the hand piece.

When all was in order, I turned it on. I immediately found that the rheostat on the hand piece lacked the smoothness and sensitivity of that on the power pack. If I slowly turned it, the engine’s light would come on and it would begin to creep. There was a point, however, at which the power increased suddenly and there was a distinct speed change.

Aside from this, all worked as advertised. Red and green LEDs indicate the direction selected. Pressing the direction button changes it. Pressing the brake button cuts power entirely. Trading between the hand piece and the power pack also worked just fine. Regardless of which unit was controlling the train, the volt/amp meter on the power pack showed the power being used.

I happened to have a longer four-wire phone cord on hand, so I plugged it in to see if there would be any problem in using a longer cord than that supplied. There wasn’t—it worked just fine, so you could presumably use a cord of any length for true walk-around capability, which could be handy on larger track-powered railroads.