Let me start by saying I know nothing about model trains. I am trying to help my father in law set up flashing railroad crossing lights. He bought some on Amazon that came with a circuit board but they did not seem to work. I am looking for some decent railroad crossing lights (LED) that flash and will not break the bank. Any help would be much appreciated.
Hi Bob, we need a bit more information. What system did he buy? What all did he get with it? Is he running DC or DCC That will get us started. I have the Azatrax system on my layout and as soon as I can remember where I put the optical sensors, I will modify the Walthers system to work on DCC. also, with the right components you can get a system up and running with ir sensors, leds and an Arduino to control it. You can buy the crossing signals from walthers. Thanks, Dale
Hi John, I am enjoying my Azatrax system very much! The instructions were a bit hard to follow but once figured out, the system is great. Merry Christmas! Dale
My father in law has some old school stuff from the 60s and 70s and maybe even earlier. Nothing is computerized. We are wanting to hook up some flashing railroad crossing lights to a switch. He just wants to be able to flip a switch and have flashing railroad lights.
What exactly did he purchase on Amazon? If we know what he has, we can probably suggest what he would need to get in order to make it work. Can you post a picture of the components? It would also help to know the actual source, such as Walthers or? we now know we are working with a DC system. Thanks,
I believe this is what he purchased. The light would come on but not flash. I think he burned a set up already as he us not electrically inclined. At this point he is willing to just get new lights or something. His only requirements are that it is led and works with his simple setup.
If all he would like is to be able to "flip a switch and the crossing lights come on" that simplifies things a lot. He would not need detectors; just hook up the flasher circuit to the lights, and to a power supply. All but one of my crossing lights are hooked up to infrared (so it works with "nighttime" running with the room lights off), and one is a Rich Eaton wig-wag that I am trying to minimize run time on, so the wig-wag has a switch control that I use for making movies. I like my AZATRAX detectors because once the train has cleared the crossing it will shut off the flashing lights and raise the gate 15-20 seconds after the train has passed; very prototypical. John
Just looking at the board in the photo, there are screw terminals for each set of lights. The single pair on the bottom is probably for power in, while the two on the top alternate to give the flashing effect. Make sure the LEDs are wired correctly. Does the Amazon product have an instruction manual? Are the wires color coded? If the wires are not set up correctly, I can imagine it will not work. LEDs also have a polarity. If it isn't working right now, maybe you just need to flip the wires in the screw terminals so the power flows in the correct direction through the LED. What kind of power bus is he using? Can the power supply be 12 volts? Most accessories run on that voltage, or maybe it needs 3V for the LEDs. Again, check the manual or the Amazon listing for the specs.
ok, I looked it up on Amazon. The reviews were somewhat mixed. There is a wiring diagram picture on the ad page. But it needs a resister or will probably not work, worse case is the leds will blow. If it came with a resister and it is not attached, you will need to solder it on the black wire according to the picture. I suspect since it does not have any provision for detection, you can simply wire a toggle switch on the power supply wiring to turn it off and on. Several of the reviews stated it runs on 9 volts power. You could simply get a 9 volt battery and battery clip for it. Run the leads from the battery clip to it. One of the leads could go to a toggle switch then on to the module. You could simply turn the power off and on to it when you wish. I have purchased these components online and I believe at Home Depot in their hardware department. If RadioShack was still around, I’d go there. it seems to be hit or miss on if they include instructions with it.
