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HO railroad crossings

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  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
  • 16,367 posts
Posted by gmpullman on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 10:31 PM

bmtrainmaster
How many inches tall should the railroad crossing be?

This should get you in the ballpark:

 Xing-BnO by Edmund, on Flickr

 Flashers only:

 Xing_BnO_Flasher by Edmund, on Flickr

   — and if cantilevered is your preference:

 Xing_Cantilever_BnO by Edmund, on Flickr

For location data:

 Xing_BnO_Location by Edmund, on Flickr

Good Luck, Ed

  • Member since
    December 2004
  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
  • 21,483 posts
Posted by MisterBeasley on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 9:39 PM

kasskaboose

Mr B: How easy were the crossings for installing?  They look quite good.  I def could use some for the realism.

I like the idea of not getting from e-bay.

Actually, they were quite simple.  The electronics uses six between-the-ties photo sensors and everything plugs into the board as per instructions,  and it worked immediately.   The flashers-only board also does a bell, which I don't have.  The gates use a Tortoise.  I use a Circuitron gadget to allow a single Tortoise to control two gates.  That take a bit of adjustment,  but it's easy and also worked right away.  I got pre-assembled boards for only a few dollars extra.

They work fine on visible light even with the room dimmed down to nighttime levels.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
    February 2008
  • 2,360 posts
Posted by kasskaboose on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 8:14 PM

Mr B: How easy were the crossings for installing?  They look quite good.  I def could use some for the realism.

I like the idea of not getting from e-bay.

  • Member since
    March 2022
  • 87 posts
Posted by bmtrainmaster on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 6:56 PM

How many inches tall should the railroad crossing be? The ho ones are very big.

  • Member since
    April 2004
  • From: Ontario Canada
  • 3,574 posts
Posted by Mark R. on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 6:36 PM

BigDaddy

Those in the Ebay link do not have any detection.  The flash or not, when you turn the knob. 

Ebay seller WeHonest used to sell MR stuff but no longer does.  They had a control board and infrared sensing devices.  I'm not finding a similar product on Ebay

 

According to ebay .... "The seller is away until Fri, Jan 27, 2023. Expect a delay in delivery until they return.  "

Mark.

¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 5:46 PM

bmtrainmaster
I was thinking of wiring a switch

That's an easy way to go.

Railroad Mel, who has passed away, used infrared.  His website is still up.  You may find it useful.

https://melvineperry.blogspot.com/search?q=infrared

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 9:54 AM

Not crossing flashers, but I bought some wall mounted lamps from China on eBay.

They were cheap, like $12.00 for ten of them.

The lights looked terrible, much worse than the auction pictures. I think they must have showed them on S or O scale buildings.

At least I was not out much.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    December 2004
  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
  • 21,483 posts
Posted by MisterBeasley on Monday, January 16, 2023 8:19 PM

bmtrainmaster

Where did you get your flashing electronics from. The ones on ebay come with flashing electonics.

Look for a guy named Rob Paisley.  I think he's in Canada.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Morristown, NJ
  • 808 posts
Posted by nealknows on Monday, January 16, 2023 7:31 PM

Take a look at their #501 circuit. Works with sensors in between the ties that trigger the crossbucks. Does 2 tracks bi-directional.

https://eastcoastcircuits.com/Circuits

 

  • Member since
    March 2022
  • 87 posts
Posted by bmtrainmaster on Monday, January 16, 2023 5:49 PM

I was thinking of wiring a switch. That would allow me to turn it on when a train comes around. The detection systems seem to complicated Huh?. Also, I don't want to drill many holes in my layout since nothing is permanent. 

-bmtrainmaster

  • Member since
    March 2011
  • 1,950 posts
Posted by NVSRR on Monday, January 16, 2023 5:26 PM

dig through the walthers catalong and you will find a couple different detection circuts.   might be a few articles in MR about making your own detection circut.    Anybody remember the articles on building a full function safety-tron crossing system?

 

Shane

A pessimist sees a dark tunnel

An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel

A realist sees a frieght train

An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Monday, January 16, 2023 4:44 PM

Those in the Ebay link do not have any detection.  The flash or not, when you turn the knob. 

Ebay seller WeHonest used to sell MR stuff but no longer does.  They had a control board and infrared sensing devices.  I'm not finding a similar product on Ebay

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    March 2022
  • 87 posts
Posted by bmtrainmaster on Monday, January 16, 2023 4:17 PM

MisterBeasley

I have a couple of pairs of crossbucks from Oregon Rail Supply.  They are simple black plastic models with LEDs.  They require some easy assembly and come with decals.  They were very inexpensive and look good on the layout.  I got detection and flasher electronics separately.

   I also have a set of crossing gates and flashers from NJ International.   They were a bit more troublesome but now work fine as well.

 

 

Where did you get your flashing electronics from. The ones on ebay come with flashing electonics.

  • Member since
    December 2004
  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
  • 21,483 posts
Posted by MisterBeasley on Monday, January 16, 2023 11:50 AM

I have a couple of pairs of crossbucks from Oregon Rail Supply.  They are simple black plastic models with LEDs.  They require some easy assembly and come with decals.  They were very inexpensive and look good on the layout.  I got detection and flasher electronics separately.

   I also have a set of crossing gates and flashers from NJ International.   They were a bit more troublesome but now work fine as well.

 

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
    March 2022
  • 87 posts
Posted by bmtrainmaster on Monday, January 16, 2023 11:11 AM

NVSRR

Any links or item numbers or manufacture names? There are a lot of cheap flasher versions out there.   The YouTuber might hav e found a high end set cheap on eBay too.

 

shane

 

The one on youtube was from china.

All of them are probely made in the same factory in china. I have seen some made by a brand called evemodel.

Evemodel link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/263224521364?hash=item3d49677294:g:QJgAAOSwUdZefXUV&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA0HZEBuKzgwCIqXroSGvd2emOCdJV85XYi4JDRdZstDRJcwpA3TyzoAw8VmCG1kbjYwUHSdD2SuvSu0aO5cGOWsvMmLal1XceWPBo0ns7i%2B7qwTSEoKR%2F2J2U0UAI0a%2FcFoWbMl7ulMMHdGMgX%2FaMiyI%2BdF8Idt248tkluK0qFybL5E5UPLT10dH18n68%2FHkHD2YJX%2FfQOmc4v%2B%2BLc1pZZ0e0gjlLBICdetC8AkQbBpEYqi1NaK7Ud0poMFk4FMVyBchzD2T8ao11P0pbGAOMXtU%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6zA5bi3YQ 

Wow the link is long Surprise 

  • Member since
    March 2011
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Posted by NVSRR on Monday, January 16, 2023 11:03 AM

Any links or item numbers or manufacture names? There are a lot of cheap flasher versions out there.   The YouTuber might hav e found a high end set cheap on eBay too.

 

shane

A pessimist sees a dark tunnel

An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel

A realist sees a frieght train

An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space

  • Member since
    March 2022
  • 87 posts
HO railroad crossings
Posted by bmtrainmaster on Monday, January 16, 2023 8:45 AM

Hello y'all! Last night I was browsing through youtube and saw this video from main track trains about some cheap crossing flashers from ebay. I was wondering if any of y'all have used these cheap ebay crossing flashers? They dont look that hard to wire up although they don't say how to control them. Thanks in advance.

-bmtrainmaster

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