Rail Road crossing lights

[Anonymous]

hey J thanks man.. that does help.. i printed it out.

peace,
Kev.

[wabash1]

Ok kev ill give a exsplanation and try and make it painless for both of us. when a crossing is put in the track speed is figured into how far out the starter circut goes. ( there is a signal maintaner on this site he may correct me) this is where the isulated joint is put, the starter circut ( on a count down system) starts counting down for the speed of train and starts the signal flashing to give a 15 sec warning for the public. if gates are involved it will make sure the gates are down for 5 sec before the train gets there.

now if you are moving slow or stopping before a crossing the cards read this and dont start flashing right away. all new crossings and most updated crossings have event recorders in them also. now the next circut is called the island circut. it has a veried size also from 15ft to 100ft or more from center of crossing and when this is shunted by railcar the lights come on and stay on. until this circut is cleared. then when train is over the island and leaving the other side of the circut it counts up knowing that the movement is away from crossing.

in short what ever is on the west end is also the lead time on east end (or north south) these signals are set to activate anytime something goes wrong so that the public gets warning even if no train is presant to make them stop look listen and live. failures are just about a thing of the past. there is some that may not activate these are low speed private plant or old style signals on tracks into yards. if the rails are rusted the signals wont work. even the island. and the power going into the bungalo is ac power but it is converted into dc power. ( ive been told that it is low voltage ac power also but its mostly dc) i hope this helps i have friends that are signal maintainers but dont get to see them that often anymore Hope this helps

[mudchicken]

Kev:

Not a cut & dried answer. To my knowledge there are at least 14 different methods in common use that activate the warning lights starting with a simple DC gate circuit and insulated joints. Take a look at GE/Harmon, Union Switch & Signal, RCL or Denver Signal's website. The get a Manual of Uniform Traffic Control (MUTC) Handbook. The variations are countless. The engineering on these systems is for the most part different than what a highway engineer uses.

[Anonymous]

DOES anybody know how these things work? can anyone give me a detailed explination or lead me to a website that can give me a detailed explination on how these machines work.

Thnaks.
Detour Kev.