I just made an attempt at wiring my Lionel Gateman up so that the light is always on and that when a t TA in goes over an isolated feast rack section the gateman is activated and pops out the door. I am using Fastrack and a MTH Z-1000 transformer.
I seem to have had some success. The light in the building is always on and the Gateman activated when the train goes over the isolated track section. I made the isolated track sections myself by removing the male Fastrack prong and the plates that connect the two out rails(I used two 5” Fastrack sections).
Two issues have come up:
1. The Gateman sometime doesn’t retreat back into the building after the train has finished riding over the rails. At time is works fine, other time it is delayed and other times it doesn’t go back in until the train has gone over the isolated track again.
2. The trains wheel spark when they hit the isolated track section and when it leaves the isolated track section. I know some sparks are normal but based on my very limited experience this seems more than usual.
I attached photos of how I arranged the wiring. In the gatehouse the white wire goes straight to the transformer 14 volt “com” and the red wire goes the the 14 “hot”. The yellow wire goes from the Gateman to the isolated third rail section(it is attached to the black wire that is attached to the Fastrack section).
Have I done this correctly, why would the gateman retreat be delayed and is there a way to reduce the sparks or should I even be worried about the sparks?
