Quote - 'Goto' poses (i.e. setting nothing but xTran/yTran/zTran) seem to work for figures but not for props. Am I missing something?

You probably are missing something. Poses work differently for props, it's all rather complex. First off, no pz2 (pose) file will work unless there is a figure in the scene. Second, even if there is a figure in the scene, a normal pose won't work on a prop unless the prop is parented to a figure.

To overcome the problem of a pose not working on a prop without a figure in the scene, you can change the file extension to cm2 and place the file in a camera folder.

To overcome the problem of a pose not working unless the prop is parented to a figure you can edit the pose file to address the prop as "actor", eg:

actor box_1

not

prop box_1

A third problem is that a pose for "box_1" will not work on "box_2" (a second instance). This can be overcome by using "actor $CURRENT", then the pose will work on any selected element, but care must be taken to have the right thing selected before applying the pose.