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How To Make A Multi-Track Grade Crossing With Gates, Warning Lights, Bells.

 

What’s In This Page

Instructions for building a  servo operated level crossing operating mechanism for up to 4 gates with accompanying warning lights and bells. It can be used for OO, HO and TT scale crossings that protects 1 to 3 tracks.  The build utilizes an easy build kit that consists  of a circuit board and all  necessary parts.

• This is for a level crossing with everything from flashing lights, warning bells, gates and accessories
• Using the circuit board below, you can choose to have your crossing with two or four gates and flashing crossbucks.
• As is typical of grade crossings, the bells will start ringing as soon as a train enters the protected area. Shortly after that the lights will start flashing and the gates lowering.
• The circuit allows you to choose to have 1, 2 or 3 tracks, in any arrangement,  in the protected area.
• As long as any train is within the protected area, the bells ring, gates stay lowered and lights flash.
• You can adjust gate speed, gate angles, flash rates and the bells/light delay.
• There is an option to have a separate accessory activated when a train is in the protected area.

If you wish only flashing lights with bells,   Go here.

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The Build Out

The Circuit Board

 

The Parts

The kit comes with all the parts necessary to make the crossing operating system.  That includes the servos and under track IR Sensors.

You can get them, with the circuit board included, at this link.

 

 

 

 

 

Preparing the Elements

Fold The Resistor Wires

Cut the DuPont Pin Headers

Join The Screw Terminals

 

Assembly

 

Solder The Resistors In Place

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solder The Pin Headers In Place

 

 

 

 

 

Solder The Screw Terminals In Place

 

The Completed Board Front And Back

 

The Level Crossing Operating Circuit

The completed board is the controller.

Ir Sensors are placed under the track. Doing that presents two difficulties.

The first is that as you buy the sensors, the 5 mm LEDs on them do not fit between the rails. That is easily solved by  replacing them with the 3mm LEDs that come with the kit.

The second problem is that placing the entire sensor body under the track makes it extremely difficult to adjust sensitivity and doing that requires working under the layout.

Once again there is an easy solution. Solder the 3mm replacement LEDs to wire long enough to reach between the location under the track and the control board.

Mount the IR receiver body on a base large enough to hold all the receiver bodies that you will use in your crossing.

Remove the 5mm LEDs and attach the wire ends.  This is Covered In Detail Here

The Level Crossing Operating Mechanism

This is a demo layout to that shows the system operate. How to install the servos under the crossing is covered here.

 

Adjusting Gate Speeds And Angles

Covered in detail here.

 

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