HO scale railroad crossing signal for a double track mainline on a DC powered layout

[csxnsvre]

Hey guys, this is my first post and thread that i have started!

I am currently building a 4x8 ho DC POWERED layout with a double track mainline. I want to put an operating railroad crossing signal that won't be that hard to wire or anything. I am considering the walthers system but theirs is meant for a single track crossing. Is there any way to let the walthers crossing signal system work for a two track railroad crossing? If not, is their any other manufacturer that makes good operating crossing signals at a decent price and isn't that hard to wire/set up?

 

[CBCNSfan]

Cornerstone Series(R) Crossing Signal Controller
Is this the unit you are thinking about?

I have no knowledge on this unit except what Walthers state " signals start flashing when the train passes the first sensor and turn off once it clears the crossing. " so as an out of the box unit I'd say no.
However if you are into a little electronics digital logic, and had a second set of sensors then with some chips and a home brew circuit board the unit could effectively be used on a double crossing.
Now someone else here might have first hand knowledge of the unit and have an answer more to your liking.
BTW welcome aboard the ModelRailroadForums, a great place for info and chat.

Cheers
Willis

 

[csxnsvre]

Thanks for the reply. Anyway the link you posted is the one I was talking about. But it would seem kind of hard to add new sensors and stuff. Does anyone know about South Bend Signals' railroad crossings and if they are good?

 

[UP2CSX]

Grade Crossing Pro at http://www.logicrailtech.com/ works like a charm. I recommend the infrared version so it will work even in the dark. You can simply cascade two GCP modules together to control a double track line. A small screwdriver and some 22 gauge wire is all it takes to connect the sensors, once you drilled holes in the roadbed and gotten the leads below the layout. It's easy to cover the holes with a thin layer of ballast with the IR version.

NJ International makes some nice grade crossing signals. Tomar also makes grade crossing signals that are nicer than the NJ international version but not nicer enough to justify twice the cost. South Bend's crossing signals are quite crude compared to either NJ or Tomar and their detector is much more difficult to cascade to control two tracks.

Whatever you do, don't buy the Walthers crossing signal controller. When you eventually switch to DCC (and you will), you'll have to scrap these, because they will blow up your DCC controller. I see they've finally added a warning about this to the catalog. The Logic Rail controllers will work equally well with DC or DCC and they are less expensive than the Walthers unit.

 

[csxnsvre]

Thanks for the help. I think I will try the grade crossing pro. Hopefully soon.

 

[csxnsvre]

So, all I need is 2 infrared gcp's, some 22 guage wire, and the crossing gates?

 

[UP2CSX]

You also need gate motors. Most of us use Tortoise switch machines for this because of their realistic slow action. The GCP modules have outputs to povide power to the gate motrors. Getting the gate motors aligned and working right is the most fiddly part of the installation.

 

[csxnsvre]

I am thinking of using a Walthers cantilever crossing (with no gates). Since the crossing has no gates does it mean i dont need tortoise machines?

 

[UP2CSX]

Correct, you only need motors for gates. The GCP will handle all the detection and flasher functions for grade crossing signals without gates with nothing else to buy but wire.

 

[johnp]

You might also check out the MRMatix crossing controllers, http://www.mrmatix.com/controller.html

JohnP