Crossing Gate Lighting Help Wanted


Hi, this is my first post on this site.

I have been thinking about getting LEDs for my NJ International 1170 and 1172 crossing HO crossing gates
Busch Signals and NJI 1170 Gates on Bachmann Crossing.png

Busch Signals and NJI 1172 Gates on Bachmann Crossing.png


Yes those are my NJ International Gates paired with Busch 5934 HO crossing signals mounted on an old Bachmann crossing gate platform (the original crossing gates and signals, which were non operating signals, are gone! The gates operated though!)

But I am trying to find the right kind of LEDs to mount on these gate arms, only I don't know which ones I should use and I really want to know what LEDs I should mount on them and what LEDs would work along with the existing crossbuck signals LEDs.

I would prefer LEDs that were always red, both when on and when off. I also prefer LEDs that are prewired and come with both anode and cathode (also would like to know what resistors to use, like the ones NJ International uses on their signals so I don't burn out my LEDs too quickly and I have and it's a bummer!) I would also prefer round LEDs but they may be too big for my gates (I thought I wanted 2mm LEDs but I think they're too big.) I have also thought of using the 1.8mm LEDs, and they might just be the right size, only they're square shaped and a crossing gate with square shaped lights would just look weird, especially since I've never seen gates with square lights (unless you count the Aurora LEDs from Alstom and National Electric Gate, but I'd like gate lights like the red 4" gate lights! ...or even 7" gate lights!)

I'm also thinking of using surface-mount LEDs, which I suppose is my very best option, only they're red when on but white when they're off, never found any red LEDs that small. Again, prefer LEDs that are always red but if need be I'll use LEDs that appear white but light up in red. But I'm looking for LEDs that come prewired.

And I would like the gate lights to work like real ones, having three lights per arm, the one on the tip of the gate always lit while the other two lights flash with the signal lights. And I'm thinking of mixing the gate light wires with the signal light wires and mounting them to the same flasher units used by the signals be them the flasher unit the Busch signals come with or the Circuitron FL-2 flasher modules.

So what LEDs do you recommend I use for my HO crossing gates? I really would like to know, I don't want just any LEDs on my gates. To make things easier for you, am willing to settle for white LEDs that light up in red, or maybe 1.8mm LEDs, just something not too big and something easy to wire, and solder!

One more question, aren't there 12V incandescent lights smaller than the grain of wheat bulbs? I also use incandescent signals and would like small incandescent lights for crossing gates and lights that can be used with 12V bulbs. If there's any such lights, what are they?

Thank you for your help and time.
 
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Not sure if this will help you:
 
Not sure if this will help you:

That just might be what I need! Thanks!

I am open to other options and would like to continue browsing, I don't want to rush into anything and just settle on one thing yet. But I am liking that idea!
 
Rs= (Vs -Vled ) / Iled , where Vs is the supply voltage ,Vled is the nominal led voltage in volts , and Iled is the desired current in amps through the led . Typical values would be Vled = 2 V , Iled = 10 ma . So for 12 V Rs = (12-2) /.010 = 1K ohm , Usually for run of the mill T 1 3/4 led Imax is about 20 ma. The more current the brighter the led and the shorter its life. Typical life expectancy for a red led 100,000 hours or about 7 years continuous .
 
I know a fellow who used the nano led's for the lights on the gate arms!
I'll see if I can find more info...
 
You can use a red Sharpie to color the face of the LED. Granted, it will decrease the brightness a bit. Don't use paint, though. That will dull it down too much.
 
I know a fellow who used the nano led's for the lights on the gate arms!
I'll see if I can find more info...

That would be great, I'd also like still-photos. I know there are videos of lighted crossing gates but they're all on YouTube and I don't like to visit YouTube for psychological reasons (I prefer Flickr, Shutterstock, or Pond5, or something classic like QuickTime, Real Player, or Windows Media Player.) But still photos would help tremendously. I know there are some but they're very hard to find. I mean I found this one of N scale crossing gates with lights, unfortunately the photo is no more, but it was a picture of two crossings with NJ International N scale gates with lights on both the signals and gates and it looked like a night scene and there was street lighting. I know there are photos of lighted HO crossing gates but they're very difficult to find even on Google Images!

You can use a red Sharpie to color the face of the LED. Granted, it will decrease the brightness a bit. Don't use paint, though. That will dull it down too much.

Nice idea! But I think I'll just leave well-enough alone and not try to mess with them, hate to diminish the brightness! Admittedly there are "clear" LED gate lights and this is one of them
139
and
185
Source https://trains-and-locomotives.fandom.com/wiki/Crossing_Gate_Arm_Lights#gallery-0 Admittedly these are not my favorite gate lights but this is probably what I'll just have to model my crossing gate lights after, relatively speaking! I say "relatively speaking" because although these LEDs are white when off and red when on, same with the best LED for me to use, the gate light used on HO gates would be one LED whereas these real ones have 36, 18 on both sides! (I prefer the round lights
latest
(4" light) and
54
(7" gate light) and these octagon gate lights used only by Union Pacific Railroad
159
, those are Electro Tech's LED gate lights made in Corona, California and these are very rare to find!)
 
I found some incandescent lights that could be used for crossing gates as well, at least crossing gates I made myself, which are longer and wider than the ones NJ International makes. I found this one at Jackson Electric Supply

2162R-2T.jpg

This is a 2162 Red Miniature Bulb Terminal Base. I was told these are not the smallest LEDs they have. I emailed them about their lights and was trying to find small red incandescent lights that would work with my HO signals lit with 12V Grain-of Wheat bulbs and they told me this:

"The 2162R is a custom painted bulb #2162R RED MINIATURE BULB WIRE TERMINAL BASE - 14 Volt 0.1 Amp 1.4 Watt Red T1-3/4, Wire Terminal Base, 10,000 Hour. These are not returnable because we can’t resale them. This is not the smallest bulb that is available. The 7219R is a smaller bulb, it is a 12 volt bulb( #7219R Red Miniature Bulb Wire Terminal Base - 12 Volt .06 Amp 0.72 Watt Red T-1 Wire Terminal Base, 10,000 Hour). These are all custom painted bulbs. The color of a bulb is different for everyone. If these bulbs are not red enough for you, we do have colored silicone bulb covers that may make them a darker color. If you pull up the 2162 bulb that you originally spoke of and put your cursor on the bulb and click enter again this will take you to a second page that has all of the technical specifications about the bulb including the maximum overall length and the maximum outer diameter."

And so I went and found, well, looked up this one
7219R-2T.jpg

The 7219R Red Miniature Bulb Terminal Base. Looks the same but these are smaller.

I'm not sure which one of these to get right now and I'm thinking of getting one of both so I can see which one I want, I don't want a light that's too big nor a light that's too small! But the smaller the better! And I plan to obtain a lot of these, like 30 or 36, any number divisible by 3 because remember, real gates, at least the American ones, have three lights per arm! And I have to make sure I buy the exact right ones because if I buy the wrong ones, I cannot return them and I'll have wasted my money! So I'm planning to buy one of each so I can evaluate them and their sizes and see which ones are more appropriate for me.

These are my incandescent crossing signals by the way:
de410v7-0b925d1b-5146-43b1-84e9-f6e4f067277d.png


These are my Bachmann HO 42421 crossing signals and one of four pairs of these I have. These are also lit with a Circuitron FL-2 Flasher Module and powered by a 12V 8-AA battery carrier to save on electricity!

de3yzs3-459058ce-ff5a-483a-8ab7-3eb28168cbf4.png

For the sake of honesty, the NJI 1190 cantilever signals were not originally lit with Grain-of-Wheat bulbs, the signal with the white stuff on where the "junction box" is supposed to be is super glue (my signal came apart,) I took out the original lights and replaced them with Model Power Grain-of Wheat Bulbs, the old lights were broken. And I have to say it was a drag to replace the bulbs, especially getting the wires to fit but it was doable! These are the bulbs I used
mdp382.jpg

hobbylinc.com/model-power-grain-of-wheat-bulb-12-16v-3-2mm-red-3-model-railroad-light-bulb-382 Although I think I bought these individually, not in three-pack but I forget.

The other signal still has its original lights.

Same with these signals
dcktzfn-63b81d33-9bbd-4af6-9cbe-6fe02ebaa7fe.png

These are Sakai Seisakusho HO crossing signals. These aren't their original lights either, I took those out and replaced them with said Grain of Wheat bulbs. I replaced the bulbs because the original lights didn't flash alternately and I wasn't satisfied with lights that lit up at the same time and flashed simultaneously. And I use a Circuitron FL-2 Flasher module to light up and flash these as well (FL-2 HD for the NJI1190 cantilevers) To see these with their original lights https://www.deviantart.com/willm3luvtrains/art/Sakai-Crossing-Signals-2-760585071

And these signals
train_tronics_railroad_crossing_signals_2_by_willm3luvtrains_dcktup1-fullview.jpg


TrainTronics Model 505 crossing signals. Again these are not the original bulbs, I relit these with Grain of Wheat bulbs. The original bulbs were flashable but something happened to one of the signals, I think one of the lights broke, and so I had to replace both bulbs on it. And I think when I tried to light them up with the signal with its original lights intact they weren't shining bright enough or working well with each other so I relit the other signal as well. The lights are quite long but they work great and that's all that matters to me! To see these with their original lights https://www.deviantart.com/willm3luvtrains/art/Train-Tronics-Railroad-Crossing-Signals-760578943

These are some of my crossing gates that I made myself that I plan to light with the Jackson Electrics bulbs
de418rk-1ca1d585-7f19-4d62-911f-e253d65a05c8.png


de419ci-80e222a9-a550-4b40-a1ca-9503cdd43045.png


de417oj-42247b4f-8816-474f-a933-2ebd02c39a17.png


Sorry you cannot see the gates very well in this picture, forgive me please!

My gate arms currently don't have working lights on them but I am considering changing that some day soon! And if I ever light these up and circumstances permitting I'll show you.
 
I found something else that might help me (and others in my shoes) It's a PDF or something like it of how to light and wire crossbucks and crossing gates using Bachmann Plasticville crossing signals and gates. http://www.scalemodelanimation.com/Articles/Crossbucks_&_Crossing_Gates.pdf

I found it on this website https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/20176

I'll probably use this one but I'm open to other tips and still researching lighted HO crossing gates! One other place I can think of is Signalogic Systems (based in Canada) http://www.signalogicsystems.com/ Fun fact, this is the very first place I found that actually puts working lights on their HO gates but they're stuff is stone expensive! But maybe I can get gate lighting advice from them!
 
the flashing part is relatively easy, can get a circuit off ebay for a buck to do that ....
if you want automatic actuation from the model train, then you need detectors on both sides, minor difficulty depending on how you do the detectors ..
 
While it may cost more than you want to spend, I strongly recommend Azatrax electronic modules for lighting crossbucks correctly, and using infrared detectors to allow automatic actuation by a train at a grade crossing. Hooking them up is simple, straightforward, and instructions are clear. And John is very helpful if you need to talk with him.
Stay well and safe!
Happy, Healthy New Year!
 
UPDATE: I just ordered the Jackson Electric Supply #2162R and #7219R light bulbs. I only ordered one of each though so I can see which one is more suitable.

I also ordered two of the Modelmodz Nano SMD LEDs. I should have ordered just one but decided to get two each. Hope they do come with resistors like they claim to!

There was another Surface Mount LED I could have ordered, I asked Signalogic Systems about it and it seemed like a good LED to use, they said it made a good 4" gate light,
Dialight-597xxx507F.jpg

but it doesn't come pre wired and I don't think I can add wires to LEDs myself, I'm no electrician!, so I'm going with the ones McLeod said and try those out, see if they're small enough for my NJI crossing gates and see exactly how to position and mount them.

This is what Signalogic Systems told me
"Hello William,

Thanks for reaching out! We haven't been building signal models as products for quite some time, though we may at some point decide to get back into it again. It seems to be an area that isn't done well. For the signals that have been done, I've used 0603 size LEDs. There isn't one in particular that is better I've found. The manufacturers don't add wires to these, it is 3rd parties that will do that, though I agree for some LEDs it’s a wonder service and worth the price!

Here is a potential LED for use. It has a domed top which might lend well to looking like a 4" lamp: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/dialight/5973006507F/9385422

On the older style of gates I made, I would use an appropriate K&S brass bar for the gate arm. The LEDs would get one size soldered to the brass, and the other side to a wire that was tucked neatly along the top. The tip light is much more tricky. It needed its own wires. I actually had one of the counterweights set up as a circuit board with a circuit to ensure the tip lights stayed on always.

With the newer signals I've built, I actually had the gate made from a circuit board. The wires are built right in! I still used the 0603 LEDs as they most closest represented the 4" lights in HO.

Also, I use a two-wire flasher output for my gate signals and use the two halves of the shaft as conductors out to the gate arm. This type of output is called an H-Bridge output, where the polarity of the two wires is alternated.

If you want the LEDs to appear red, then just dab them with a transparent paint. Tamiya makes a line of transparent paints. You may need to apply a couple coats to get it to the colour you want.

Regards,

Kevin Rudko
Signalogic Systems Inc."


This will be my first time handling such LEDs so let's hope it all works out!

So if these lights are what I'm looking for and do work, I plan to order more over the next several months until I have a sufficient amount (plan to order at least 24 to 30 of the JES incandescent bulbs and at least 24 of the MM LEDs (I have a lot of crossing gates!))

My plan is to light the JES bulbs with my incandescent signals, hopefully being able to use my Circuitron FL2 flasher module, may need to upgrade to FL2-HD to animate them, and to light the MM LEDs to the LED signals. I'm actually hoping I can wire the MM LEDs to the flasher unit used to flash my Busch signals.

And if I could, I'd wire incandescent lights and LEDs together but I heard you cannot do that, it's either incandescents or LEDs!

Plan to have more updates to this over the next month, two, three, or more depending on how things go and have pictures!

Be back later, feel free to respond please!
 
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FYI , Surplus Sales of Nebraska ,They buy out distributors and manufacturers Wheat ,Grain-O-Wheat , Micro Wheat.....ect. https://www.surplussales.com/homenew.html#Display-Devices-Lamps

Thanks for the link.

Well, though I had to search for it myself, I did find what were called Red Mini Wheat Lamps https://www.surplussales.com//Bulbs-Incan-Panel/Bulbs-2.html. Looks more like what I could use but like a dollar or two more than the ones JES sells. I also don't know if it'll work well with 12v lights and a 12v power source.

Well, I'll at least consider that. Looks good though!
lmp-546-9480-002_.jpg


I was hoping my JES bulbs would come yesterday but it looks like I have to wait another day or two, maybe the end of the week!

Also a little upset, well, concerned I ordered my LEDs from an international vender, and not because of cost but because of the time it could take to get here but I didn't expect them to come yesterday.

Something else I might think I need are ultra thin wires., but not the ones used on the Busch signals but wires with easier to peel insulation. And also a soldering iron. I may need to extend the light bulb leads so that I can have long enough wires, especially for my gate further away from the flasher unit or power source. And I've never soldered before so it'll be quite an experience!

I'm a beginner at a lot of this so I'm quite nervous and apprehensive!
 
UPDATE March 18, 2021: My Jackson Electric Supplies light bulbs have come!

The 7219R bulb and the 2162R bulb arrived on the 11th and here is a picture of them.
7219R and 2162R Light Bulbs.png

And I placed a dime next to the light bulbs for size comparison (now I know why others do this!)

Now see these lights on a gate arm (that I made myself)

The gate arm with the 7219R bulb:
Crossing Gate with 7219R Bulb.png


The gate arm with the 2162R bulb
Crossing Gate with 2162R Bulb.png


The gate arm with both light bulbs:
Crossing Gate with 7219R and 2162R Bulbs.png

That's just very freaky! Now do you see why I bought one of each bulb?

And the winner is.....
Crossing Gate with three (3) 7219R Bulbs.png

...THE 7219R BULBS!

Turns out the 7291R bulbs are the best to use!

The day my bulbs came, I went ahead and ordered seventeen more of the 7219R bulbs (that was as much as I could afford, otherwise I'd have gotten more and I wanted thirty of them, so I'm short twelve bulbs for now, but I'm thankful and grateful that I got some bulbs and that I found out which ones to get!) My bulbs came in the mail on the 17th (it's the 18th and after midnight now) and you see two of them and my original bulb.

So glad I did my research and inquiring before executing and then ordering different-sized bulbs to see which one I wanted! By the way sorry the gate arm stripes look faded, this gate is old!

This of course is incomplete, I still have more work to do including expanding the wires, well, adding wires to them. I am considering again using the Surplus Sales bulbs!

I have more pictures but I'll post those later and let you see what I have so far.

@GeeTee @Rico @flyboy2610 @McLeod @wvg_ca @trailrider

By the way, my LEDs from ModelModz still haven't come in yet! I hope they come soon!
 
Wow That’s quite a difference in size!
Believe it or not I still haven’t tracked down Dwight but have some friends on the case now too.
I did find a couple shots of his gates tho, sorry no close ups but you can just make out the LEDs.

E977F8CC-9139-4726-AA8C-9859F644075B.jpeg

90C19943-5896-4141-992E-AE132C7B98A8.jpeg
 
Wow That’s quite a difference in size!
Believe it or not I still haven’t tracked down Dwight but have some friends on the case now too.
I did find a couple shots of his gates tho, sorry no close ups but you can just make out the LEDs.

View attachment 126008
View attachment 126009

I have seen those pictures and they're very impressive! I expected red and white gates but black and white works too, after all that's what color they were before from the early days to the 1960s or 70s!

The LEDs can be seen better in the second picture!

Thanks for the share and update! Boy I hope Dwight is okay! You don't think anything happened to him do you? Also hope he didn't lose interest in any of this but I cannot blame him if he did, it happened to two other people, myself included, losing interest in some train-related things. If he did, i don't want to push him or insist he get back to me on this.

Hopefully others who light up crossing gates will see this, come forward and reach out to me on this thread, or Private Message but I prefer this thread, and share photos. And maybe leave directions on how they add and wire gates.

But I hope Dwight is okay, now I'm kind of worried!😟
 
UPDATE March 18, 2021 2.0

Alright gang here are some pictures of my crossing gate and in lit form!
Crossing Gate with three (3) 7219R Bulbs Lit 1.png
Crossing Gate with three (3) 7219R Bulbs Lit 2.png


I have my 7219R bulbs wired to one of my Circuitron FL-2 flasher modules. And this is how I wired them. The light at the tip of the gate, the light that stays on, I wired that to the battery holder, well actually to the + and - terminals on the flasher unit, where the battery holder is also wired to. As regards to the other two lights, I wired them the way I'd wire crossbuck signal lights, one to the L terminal, the other to the R terminal, but wired the other wires of both bulbs to the OUT terminal. When powered on, the gate lights up as real gates, the tip light steady while the other two lights flash alternately just like I wanted them to!

Admittedly the wiring is poor quality but this was only just a test to make sure these would work. And I don't intend to keep the wires this way or to use all the wires I'm using, I am planning to buy fresh wires and longer wires, and make it so that they are on the gate arm/going down the gate arm instead of as you see them, that's just gross! And as I mentioned, I plan to use long wires so I can place the gate far enough from the flasher unit to where they don't interfere with each other (the gate isn't pulled or tied down toward the unit or the flasher unit doesn't get pulled up with the gate, or the gate doesn't get stuck and cannot go far!)

Here's a couple of extra pictures of this gate, in the "up position."
Crossing Gate with three (3) 7219R Bulbs Lit 3.png
Crossing Gate with three (3) 7219R Bulbs Lit 4.png


And this is a sample and demonstration, well display actually, of what I plan to do with my crossing gates.

HO Railroad Crossing Display March 18, 2021.png

I also decided to put lights on a second gate but I didn't wire those yet, they're just put in place. Like I said this is all just display so don't let this picture fool you! I'd have taken the wires off the gate on the right but I decided not to mess with them although my picture looks cruddy! Also the gate lights are not interconnected with the crossbuck signal lights yet, but I did want to give you an idea of what I am planning to do. I also have more testing I need to do to make sure the gate lights will light up and flash properly and then wire them so that they'll light up with the crossbuck signal lights.

As part of the display, and so that it would look more natural, I took out a few pieces of track, one of which I added a grade crossing I made myself to, put them together, and put the signals and gates in their proper places. Still doesn't look too realistic but it does look more like it should! I'd show the gates in the down position but they'd look better if the lights were on!

Please note that I do not plan to make my gates lower or raise automatically, but I will be sure to have the gates down before a passage of any train. I don't plan to make the signals activate automatically either, it will all be manually operated and I do plan to just do continual flash. Speaking of which, what does worry me, are the tip lights. Because these are incandescent lights and if they stay on without flashing, they will heat up. With that, my gates are made out of wood and the stripes are made of paper and I know paper and heat shouldn't mix (wood probably shouldn't either) and I don't want to accidentally start a fire, or set a bad example for other model railroaders trying to do what I'm doing! When I tested these lights, I did smell something and I didn't like that it was smelling (it was a burning smell.) I need to figure out what's going on. Well when I wired the lights directly to the flasher that's when I smelled it, I forget if I smelled anything when I indirectly connected the lights to the flasher (connecting the lights using added wires with insulation.) When I wired and operated the crossbucks there was no problem, no burning smell or anything.

When the lights flash the bulbs don't heat up, at least not as rapidly if at all, but the solid lights I'm more concerned about since they do heat up, especially the longer the lights stay on without turning off. Well if it doesn't hurt anything I'm okay. I should probably find something that will dim the light and keep it from heating up. Or eliminate the use of the tip-light or make all three lights flash. And I only know how to make wooden gates, or gates made entirely out of paper, which is less durable. I know one thing, I cannot keep the lights on too long or leave them unattended!

I use modeling clay to make the signals stand and to hold the gates in place. I also only play with my trains on the floor, I don't use a table or work bench.

So I still have some more work to do, some more testing to do so that the lights will not only work but work together like real signals and cooperate. And I need to figure out how to better wire my gate lights, adding wire to them. And again I plan to buy more wires and a soldering iron but that won't be for another two months at least. But hopefully in the not too distant future, I'll have these all wired up and have this crossing looking better than it does!

So please check back, more updates to come. And thanks for looking, for your help and support!
 
Not much of an update but let me show you what else I've done so far.

NJI 1190 Cantilever with Lighted Gate 3-30-21-01.png


NJI 1190 Cantilever with Lighted Gate 3-30-21-02.png


That's right, I have my incandescent crossing gate lights lit up and flashing along with one of my crossing signals! I mean I showed the signals and gate lit up before but I didn't show the gate together with the signal in the same photo.

Note, this is purely for looks though, the gate lights are not interconnected with the signal lights, the gate lights are on a separate flasher unit than the signal lights, so the gate lights are not in sync with the gate lights. In fact the next picture will show that.
NJI 1190 Cantilever with Lighted Gate 3-30-21-03.png

Okay look at this picture, then look at the previous two pictures, and if you find necessary, look at this one again. See how the gate lights are contrary to the signal lights? Although it doesn't really matter how the light flash goes, I want it so that the middle gate light flashes with the left signal light and the right gate light flashes with the right signal light (obviously the left gate light doesn't flash, it stays on!)

Now one more thing I decided to try
NJI 1190 Cantilever Signals and Gate Light Display.png

I decided to get a little more realistic by doing dual signal and dual gate! The more flashing lights the merrier, right?

Sorry for the mess by the way, this isn't what a railroad crossing is supposed to look like! The wires all need to be low and under the ground, or at least under the grade crossing, otherwise how are automobiles and trains supposed to get through this?

I would have made the gates in the down-position but I couldn't get them to stay down, well I couldn't get them to stay horizontal! In fact I kept having trouble getting the gate lights to cooperate, especially the wires. The wires kept coming apart and I had to connect smaller wires to each other to extend them and had trouble keeping the wires connected to the bulbs themselves as well as to the flasher unit. It was not easy making all six gate lights work, especially realistically, having four of the gate lights alternately flash and the last two stay on. Had that trouble before I took this picture and when I tried to "lower" the gates, not only could I not keep them down but again the lights got undone. After working for hours through the night on this, I decided to give up ...for now! This must be why many people, or most model railroaders don't light up their crossing gate arms, it must be a headache to do and hard to get the wires to cooperate and stuff!

And I have to say, when using a very thin wire when I didn't even get all the gate lights to work, I smelled something burning and I looked down and my 8-AA battery holder or something was smoking, so I disconnected it and turned the gate lights off completely. I then discovered that one of the wires, the very thin wire, melted or got damaged. So I took it out and replaced it with a thicker wire. Thicker wires are harder to work with, they're harder to bend, and they aren't very discreet, that's why I wanted to use thinner wires! But I guess there's such a thing as too thin! And I am looking for thin wires but wires that are between 20 and 30 gauge, especially if I want to use it for LEDs, which I eventually plan to use with my LED signals.

This was only for display anyway and this was a demonstration. This is not the final assembly, this was all just a test to see if these would work the way I hoped and they kind of do. There's still more to be done though! And I am planning to take out the wires you see and replace them with longer wires, and I plan to "bury the wires" so that trains and automobiles don't hit them or get caught in them. And of course eventually I plan to interconnect the gate lights with the signal lights, wiring them to the same flasher unit. With the Circuitron FL-2HD, it shouldn't be a problem, but I am a bit worried with the regular FL-2 flasher. I was told by Circuitron that eight bulbs can be wired but more than that is "iffy," that's what they said. Thankfully I only plan to wire up to eight bulbs to the flasher (the FL-2) at least if I'm using mast signals and gates. But for cantilever signals and gates, where I'm using fourteen (14) lights, I'll need the FL-2HD! No, I mean twelve (12) lights. The tip lights, the ones that stay on, will not be wired to the terminals you wire the bulbs you intend to flash to, I prefer to wire them directly to the power source, in this case the battery holder.

This is all I have as far as updates go. Expect more updates in May if not sooner. Thanks for reading and looking so far!
@Rico

Images also available in my Deviant Art gallery.
 



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