I was looking at lionel's options of grade crossings specifically the smaller "grade crossing section" #12036 however this thing doesnt have lights or gates like the larger brothers #12052 and #12062. How do #12052 and #12062 activate and if its possible to retrofit #12036 with some automatic gates or crossbuck signals that are sold separately? Im not sure how the electronics work to activate the automatic gates or crossbucks
Three rail Lionel? That stuff has metal axles and wheels. When the train passes over a section where one outside rail is insulated from the rest, it grounds that rail. This can complete a circuit. That's how the anti-derail switches work, and while I've never messed with one, I believe the grade crossings work the same way.
im pretty new to lionel in general. yes 3 rail fastrack. i havent actually gotten my lionel gear in so its hard to picture how the rails work at the moment but hoping to get it in soon actually doing more searching 14098 looks to solve my probs if it can hook to fastrack i need to do more research before i drop some more $
Lionel's 153C and 145C Contactors were also used. The train's weight acted to close a simple contact switch within these and their sensitivity was adjustable with a little nut or screw. I used these on my 262 Crossing Gate. I don't know about their adaptability to FastTrack.
