I just got around to hooking up the Walthers crossing signal actuator. It comes with a couple infra red detectors to turn it on when a train passes over the detectors. I do a lot of night running and would like to just set it up on a toggle switch, and work the crossing signals manually. How can I replace the infra red detectors. I'm thinking the light detectors change a resistance, to turn on the crossing lights, but replacing them with a toggle switch would be a direct short, and maybe blow something. Anybody have any experience with the Walthers crossing signal modules? Thanks.
Got no response to this a month ago, so I'll try it once more.
The photoresistor is not infrared, it is just sensitive to light and changes resistance according to the intensity of the light.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoresistor
Substituting a toggle switch for the photoresistor should have no adverse effect on the circuit at all. However, photoresistors come in two varieties that either increase or decrease resistance with changes in light intensity.
You may need to turn the toggle switch off to activate the signals instead of turning it on. Other than that, it should work.
Thanks, I'll try that.