I just installed the Logic Rail Technologies Signal Animator on one of my home signals at LEW Interlocking. There's an optical sensor between the rails that detects the train, switching the signal from clear to absolute stop. The timer then runs 10-30 seconds once the last car passes to cycle through approach and back to clear. It seems the way the product is set up, if you use absolute stop (without the middle light illuminated in stop) the cycle skips approach, which seems sometimes to be prototypical for at least some PRR installations.
Enjoy as a pair of RF15 sharknoses on a coal drag passes through LEW Interlocking...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xlDcrbCUIA
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
That's really cool, Dave! That may spur me on to thinking about signals sooner. I still have other things to accomplish on my layout before I get around to that. I bet the same kind of set up would work with a crossing signal.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Nice work, Dave. I don't s'pose you did a tutorial on making and installing them?
FT
You drill a small hole between the ties and install a little optical sensor. Run the leads from the sensor through the hole to the circuit board above. Connect the wires from the signal per the diagram with the product (the side marked GRYC). The two leads that say AC actually go to a seperate DC bus I set up (these run AC or DC) for signals into an old MRC DC cab. I use the rheostat to control the voltage so I don't need resistors.
All said, it took maybe 20 minutes for me to install one (plus some fiddling). Only two soldered connections (extending the optical sensor leads). I highly recommend this product!
Dave,
Nice video and I love working signals. I don't mean to nit-pic, however, as I remember it Pennsy signals showed three verticle yellow lights for clear, three diagonal yellow lights for approach and three horizontal yellow lights for stop with the center light on all three indications being the same light.
I'm not saying you two reds are wrong, its just that I never saw lights like that on the old Pennsy. Of course most of my experience was with the Philadelphia to Harrisburg mainline.
Perhaps Brakie could shed some light (ouch!) on the subject.
-George
"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."
George,
You are correct for most simple applications. However, for "absolute stop" used often at interlockings only the two horizontal lights are lit and red. I have quite a bit of photographic evidence to that effect in my two-bookshelf Pennsy library.
I have the ordinary plain three amber light row PLs (the kind you describe) on the other side of the layout.
In simpler terms, three horizontal amber lights or two horizontal red lights meant "stop and stay stopped until the aspect changes (absolute stop)." Now, the addition of a lower light or lack of a signal number could also change the meaning between "stop and proceed" and "absolute stop." The lower light added to a three-amber stop meant "stop and proceed."
Here's an example from Steve Mallory's PRR Buffalo line. He's an actual dispatcher for NS on that line in real life and has modeled his signals after the real thing (they're fully interlocked). This shot shows DRIFT Interlocking with Absolute Stop indications:
Update:
I have two Logic Rail Tech Signal Animators wired up and they work great. They now run through all three aspects (vertical for clear, diagonal for approach, and horizontal for stop). The problem I'd had originally with them skipping the approach aspect was my fault.
Rather than worry about attaching resistors to each wire in the signal, I run them using the variable DC output from an old MRC DC power pack. I'd had the lights too dim (too little current) to run the signal animators properly. A little more juice made everything go OK without an objectionable amount of brightness in those signals wired this way. The signals for the sidings have SPDT toggles and are a little brighter than I'd like (there is some resistance in the signal animators), but since there are fewer wires for the signals on the sidings (just clear and stop aspects), I can add resistors there.
These things are really cool! I took pictures while I installed the second one but haven't uploaded them yet. I'll be ordering two more here shortly for the home signals at M Interlocking. For variety's sake, the signals at M tower are the kind where three horizontal amber with the lower amber light indicates stop, vs. the ones at LEW (in the video) that have the two horizontal reds.
Incidentally, I came across a photo of a set of P5as on a run near Merion (I think) on the Philly-Harrisburg line with the horizontal reds in the Don Ball Pennsy book.
The video looks great, so great in fact that I want to add the same thing to my layout! If you don't mind, could you (or anyone else) answer some questions concerning this setup, or point me to a website with more info?
1. How hard is it to install under track that is already laid and ballasted?
2. Is there a way to control how sensitive the optical sensors are? I'm concerned that when I turn of the lights for night operation all the signals will display absolute stop.
3. Do you have any problem with the light flickering between cars?
Thanks.
OK, here are the answers from my experience:
1. REALLY easy... Just drill a hole!
2. That's a problem. If the lights are too dim, they do go to stop.
3. No... Once the sensor is blocked it starts a 10 (or 30) second timer, so no flickering.
On Monday, I ordered 2 more signal animators from Logic Rail Tech in Texas to "animate" the signals at East Mifflin. They were very nice on the phone. They explained that the animators wouldn't be mailed until Tuesday, because Monday was a holiday. Can you believe they still made it here by Thursday? Amazing!
Anyway, it took my 4-year-old and I less than an hour to install both of the animators. Granted, I'd done two previously, so I knew what to do. But still...
What an awesome product from a very firendly company!!! I'm a tough customer to please, so when I'm this pleased, I like to pass it along!
Nice looking signals, Dave!
Just to clear up the issue of the red lamps, according to "The Keystone Modeler", some signals were modified from the mid 1950s onwards with the two red "Snake Eye" lamps on the absolute block aspect. Before then the signal would be three horizontal yellow lamps.
Eddie_walters wrote: Nice looking signals, Dave!Just to clear up the issue of the red lamps, according to "The Keystone Modeler", some signals were modified from the mid 1950s onwards with the two red "Snake Eye" lamps on the absolute block aspect. Before then the signal would be three horizontal yellow lamps.
Hey, thanks for the info! For variety's sake I have the standard 3-horizontal amber bulbs at the other interlocking plant. Those are the ones I wired up last night.
Hi Dave,
Sounds good! I'm sure both types would have co-existed for quite some time.
Ed