Hello y’all! Last night I was browsing through youtube and saw this video from main track trains about some cheap crossing flashers from ebay. I was wondering if any of y’all have used these cheap ebay crossing flashers? They dont look that hard to wire up although they don’t say how to control them. Thanks in advance.
-bmtrainmaster
Any links or item numbers or manufacture names? There are a lot of cheap flasher versions out there. The YouTuber might hav e found a high end set cheap on eBay too.
shane
The one on youtube was from china.
All of them are probely made in the same factory in china. I have seen some made by a brand called evemodel.
Wow the link is long [:O]
I have a couple of pairs of crossbucks from Oregon Rail Supply. They are simple black plastic models with LEDs. They require some easy assembly and come with decals. They were very inexpensive and look good on the layout. I got detection and flasher electronics separately.
I also have a set of crossing gates and flashers from NJ International. They were a bit more troublesome but now work fine as well.
Where did you get your flashing electronics from. The ones on ebay come with flashing electonics.
Those in the Ebay link do not have any detection. The flash or not, when you turn the knob.
Ebay seller WeHonest used to sell MR stuff but no longer does. They had a control board and infrared sensing devices. I’m not finding a similar product on Ebay
dig through the walthers catalong and you will find a couple different detection circuts. might be a few articles in MR about making your own detection circut. Anybody remember the articles on building a full function safety-tron crossing system?
Shane
I was thinking of wiring a switch. That would allow me to turn it on when a train comes around. The detection systems seem to complicated [:^)]. Also, I don’t want to drill many holes in my layout since nothing is permanent.
-bmtrainmaster
Take a look at their #501 circuit. Works with sensors in between the ties that trigger the crossbucks. Does 2 tracks bi-directional.
Look for a guy named Rob Paisley. I think he’s in Canada.
Not crossing flashers, but I bought some wall mounted lamps from China on eBay.
They were cheap, like $12.00 for ten of them.
The lights looked terrible, much worse than the auction pictures. I think they must have showed them on S or O scale buildings.
At least I was not out much.
-Kevin
That’s an easy way to go.
Railroad Mel, who has passed away, used infrared. His website is still up. You may find it useful.
According to ebay … "The seller is away until Fri, Jan 27, 2023. Expect a delay in delivery until they return. "
Mark.
How many inches tall should the railroad crossing be? The ho ones are very big.
Mr B: How easy were the crossings for installing? They look quite good. I def could use some for the realism.
I like the idea of not getting from e-bay.
Actually, they were quite simple. The electronics uses six between-the-ties photo sensors and everything plugs into the board as per instructions, and it worked immediately. The flashers-only board also does a bell, which I don’t have. The gates use a Tortoise. I use a Circuitron gadget to allow a single Tortoise to control two gates. That take a bit of adjustment, but it’s easy and also worked right away. I got pre-assembled boards for only a few dollars extra.
They work fine on visible light even with the room dimmed down to nighttime levels.
This should get you in the ballpark:
Flashers only:
Xing_BnO_Flasher by Edmund, on Flickr
— and if cantilevered is your preference:
Xing_Cantilever_BnO by Edmund, on Flickr
For location data:
Xing_BnO_Location by Edmund, on Flickr
Good Luck, Ed
