Where have all the scale crossing gates gone?

What about NJ International?  They have made a fine looking gate for years.  It is not automatic, though.  You have to buy a servo to operate it.

Raising and lowering is not needed as it will remain down at all times. However, do the NJ International ones require optional units to make the lights flash? Are they expensive? Some unit I saw (I don't remember the name) was way over a $100 and did not include a way to flash the lights as a complete package. MTH had a nice looking one that is not available from what I can see.

N5CJonny,

If the MTH model you are looking for is the 30-11012, there appear to be PLENTY of them available, check MTH's product locater(Now called "find it Locally" on their product descriptions). I just checked and MTH Lists, I believe 23 dealers that report them in stock, from PA to FL and West to NV. I was in Eastside Trains in Kirkland, WA about a month ago, and I believe that they had them in stock, and I think that my LTS, Whistlestop Trains in Portland, OR may have had one in stock as well.

Doug

I just checked the website for NJ International and they look real nice. It looks like the flashing unit is optional. The only thing I wonder about is the fact that it states that it is S scale. Is that also ok size wise for O scale? I will also have to find out about a flashing unit for this signal.

Anyone else have other signals they like? Pictures would also be helpful. Thanks.

I saw the MTH one on a video and it looks like it might be close to scale or is it not really close to scale? Hard to tell just from the video. Anyone have the MTH one and how do you like it? From watching the video on the MTH signal it looked like you could leave it in the down position for extended time periods. If I tried that with the lionel postwar signal it would have gone "poof".  I know because I burned my hand on one when I was about six years old and it went out in a big flash of light! Needless to say I never let the gate stay down for long or touched it when activated after that.

Thanks guys for your input and help!

I do have the MTH 30-11012, It appears to be scale size, and I like it very much, it only gets seasonal use (actually 2 sets) on a small Halloween layout, and I run the train slow enough to give the gates a bit of a break between cycles, though I have never tried to leave them down continuously, it MAY be possible to open the mechanism and disconnect the servo that lowers the gate, just make sure that you disconnect it electrically, not mechanically, or you would have the same potential overheating issue, of course, this will void any warranty on the gates.

Doug

Please go to Intregrated Signal systems .com