Lionel Grade Crossing with Flashers, will this run on DC track power

Steve,

It's not possible to find out definitively online without having one in hand, but from what is available it looks quite promising.

Here's what I could find:

1.) Locomotive Wheelsets -- Since the set has been entered in the Lionel Support parts database (lionesupport.com) I was able to look it up.  The frame assembly from the loco, with wheelsets, is available, and here's a picture of it:

You can see that one wheelset has a traction tire on one of its wheels and so it's insulated, but the other appears to be fine.

2.) The Cars -- Likewise, here's a picture of a truck from one of the cars, also found on lionesupport.com:

With this is not so easy to determine if the wheelset is metal, however you could order one at $8.00 plus shipping, and when it arrives you'll be able to study it and quickly find out.  Unfortunately this only makes sense if you're already ordering other parts parts from Lionel because there's a $20.00 minimum shipping charge.

3.) The Crossing -- Since it comes with two five inch insulated Fastrack sections, one for each end, you'll have about 20" of track which will activaate the lights if one or more conductive wheelsets are rolling over it.  The entire train should just about fit within 20" so the lights shouldn't go off until the train is just about through the crossing.  If it goes off too soon just add an additional 10" insulated section to each end.  There are no gates, so no motors.  Direct Current (DC) should be fine.

So here's the kicker:  From the above we can only ensure with any probability that one wheelset on the entire train is conductive.  Unfortunately it usually helps to have at least several conductive, otherwise the electrical path created by the wheels and axle can roll over dirt in some spots and power to the crossing will drop out intermittently as the loco rolls over the insulated section.

Based upon all this is it worth a try?  I think so.

What do you think?

Mike

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

So here's the kicker:  From the above we can only ensure with any probability that one wheelset on the entire train is conductive.  Unfortunately it usually helps to have at least several conductive, otherwise the electrical path created by the wheels and axle can roll over dirt in some spots and power to the crossing will drop out intermittently as the loco rolls over the insulated section.

Based upon all this is it worth a try?  I think so.

What do you think?

Mike

Thanks for you help.  You assessment is the same as mine.  It looks possible.  I have a couple of Thomas the Tank sets and the cars wheel sets look conductive.   I'll have to test but they look like sintered material, not plastic.  The truck frames are plastic.   However the Dinosaur set is at a lower price point than Thomas so the comparison may not be valid.   The flasher electronics must be powered by a full wave rectifier ?  So it should work on DC.    Just a guess..

I found a 2018 post that inquired about the same DC accessory power.   The bottom line was:

Here's the link to the old post:  https://ogrforum.com/...-set-and-accessories