Crossing gate problem

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I recently purchased a N.J International crossing gate set in HO. The gates swing freely but have a wire attached so that when you pull the wire the gates go down. Does anyone have ideas on how to make these work. I want to stay away from motorizing them although that would probably be best. I thought about keeping the wires straight and attach a small bar on the ends and hooking an automotive choke cable to activate the gates. Any ideas would be appreciated but please no real complicated ones, I’m not the brightest crayon in the box.

Thanks,
Jeremy

Go Packers

2

I think the setup shown recently in Model railroader on how to animate a two posistion semaphore would work. Instead of moving the blade, it would just move the gate instead. Same set up as fare as the motor is concerned, Its just a matter of placing the actuating rod on the gate in the right spot.