What happened to my grade crossing thread

I have the MTH ones. They work well and look good IMO. They also come with a sound module. I actually use the sound module with the gates and use a timer to shut it off after 10 seconds. Too much of the bell is annoying. The price on these have gone up about $70 each retail. Years ago I got 2 for less. Since these are LED lighted, protect them from voltage spikes if they share a line with accessories that can generate them.

Dale H

Sam,

MTH and Z-stuff are pretty good, both have an issue here and there...MTH look clunky to me, and Z-stuff have poor reaction in train rooms with Flourescent or sun lighting.

The best, hands down, are Ross.  Unfortunately they have not been made for years.  They really are the best ever made.  And the price reflects that... if you can find them.

Hi Dale,

I looked at the MTH instructions for these and wondered if they work on AC and/or DC.  The instructions seem to imply DC power (red and black wires), but I would think they would have to work on AC as it would be unlikely that "a man off the street hobbiest" would have a DC supply available.

Just wondering.

Rob,

I noticed that Custom Signals also has grade  crossing signals but haven't investigated them.

NJ International - very realistic and sized very well.

Hello Sam

I run mine on 12VAC. Must be a rectifier in the circuit for the flashers. I activate them with a relay using the insulated rail method. No need for IR detectors with 3 rail. A second relay and timer shuts off the bell after 10 seconds. If using the bell module with the crossing gates,you need a second set of contacts for the module anyway.

MTH hookup instructions are confusing because they use their IR detector run off track power.

Dale H 

IMHO Custom Signals are the best. The LEDs have the prototypical slow on and off. The circuit board (GCF) has 6 built in detectors. You can have the option of either 2 or 3 detectors on 2 tracks. The 3 detector option is for the more advanced setup where the 3rd detector is used for a short section centered on the grade crossing. The GCF board also works with bulb type flashers such as the old Lionel flasher.

Sam

Pretty sophisticated,you must be an EE. You could also use reed switches I think. Being an old pinball mechanic I am comfortable with relays.

Dale H

Dale,

Yep on the EE.  Like to do things differently and with less effort (I am lazy).  Actually got idea from an old Model Railroad article and thought that was clever.  Bought some sensors and found the Mintronics magnets were very powerful for small size.  And the senor between the rails shields it from stray magnetic fields.

I can share this idea with other interested people, on or off-line.

Got the set of flashers and took apart.  Circuit is classical 555 timer driving the LEDs.  R1 is 1K and R2 is 510K and capacitor is 2.2uF.  So doing the math, the timing cycle is aproximately 1.6 seconds and duty cycle is approximately 500mS (1/2 second). 

Problem is that the two units flash independently and quickly get out of sync and worst when both oriented with their crossbucks facing out to the road, the LEDs don't flash from side to side like prototypes. 

So I opened both up, connected a fine wire jumper from pin 3 of one unit (the master), ran it into a open collector transistor inverter input.  On the other unit (the slave), I lifted the black wire from pin 3 and connected to inverter output.

Now each flasher can face out to the road and the lights flash in synchronism and keep the same sides lit like the prototypes.

If you can ever find a set, the Ross units from about 20 years ago are excellent! Personally, I'm after 2 MTH sets at this coming York.