Best N Scale Crossing Protection?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I need some crossing protection for Windsor St, and I'm curious what you guys like.

It's a two lane road crossing a decently busy main line.

Ideally I'd like something with working lights and a functioning gate that can be motorized.

[Philip H]

The modern NJ International gates with the LEDs are probably your best bet, unless you want to roll your own out of brass. Sadly Walther's doesn't seem to want to do their excellent HO models in N.

[wm3798]

Now Philip, you know that nobody buys N scale models of HO models that nobody makes in N because nobody buys N scale models of HO models that nobody makes in N because nobody buys N scale models of HO models that nobody makes in N because nobody buys N scale models of HO models that nobody makes in N because...

[mu26aeh]

I know you said lighted and motorized gate, but if you go the static route, I'm very happy with items from @Erik aka Ngineer on Shapeways.

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/ngineer?section=N+Scale+Railroad+Crossings&s=0

[nickelplate759]

Can this be adapted?

[John]

Can this be adapted?

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that looks cheesy to me

[wazzou]

I agree that it looks cheesy out of the box but with some careful planting in the scenery on a layout, it would be pretty cool.

[C855B]

that looks cheesy to me

Agreed. Aside from the US-style crossbucks and lane markings, everything else about it is Japanese in appearance and operating style. The round arms and fast flash on activation are especially "foreign".

I also think the NJI crossing signals/gates are fairly reasonable representations, not nearly as awkwardly proportioned as the rest of their line of signals. A couple of club members here use them with actuators. The main drawback I notice is the gates are a little short, so the arm action is hard to see unless you're really watching. The lack of lights on the arms doesn't help this. If you're up for a micro-soldering project, ngineering.com has this demo of nano LEDs on the gate arm, although the gate appears to be static.

[Dave V]

that looks cheesy to me

It looks like a lot of fun for "play value," so I imagine the T-Trak folks will love this.  If I were trying to build a layout for my kids today I'd be totally in for one.

For Ed, though...  I don't think any amount of paint would disguise the oversized light hoods.  Also, the fact that the train is already in the crossing before the gates go down destroys the illusion for me.

The bell ringing sounds really good, though.

[wazzou]

...Also, the fact that the train is already in the crossing before the gates go down destroys the illusion for me.

There are 2 separately included track pieces to position further away from the actual crossing to lower the gates as far away as you'd like, but for whatever reason, the reviewer chose not to use them during his video.

[mu26aeh]

They did use the sensor tracks, it's closer to the end of the video.  He made a somewhat extreme use of one of them, putting it on the opposite side of the loop. 

[Dave V]

They did use the sensor tracks, it's closer to the end of the video.  He made a somewhat extreme use of one of them, putting it on the opposite side of the loop.

There are 2 separately included track pieces to position further away from the actual crossing to lower the gates as far away as you'd like, but for whatever reason, the reviewer chose not to use them during his video.

My apologies.  I didn't watch the whole video.     So, appearance is really then the only issue I have.  And I think I could make a decent go of one if I had a use for it with a liberal application of scenic disguise.  Just can't hide the big bulky light hoods.

[wazzou]

They did use the sensor tracks, it's closer to the end of the video.  He made a somewhat extreme use of one of them, putting it on the opposite side of the loop.

OK, I'll admit I didn't make it to the end either. 

[peteski]

Unfortunately that crossing set is clearly more of a toy than a scale model. But I wonder if the mechanism and the electronics can be used to animate more in-scale gates (like the NJ Int. ones).  But then there is the price which is rather steep to pay for something just to use its inner guts.

[pdx1955]

The solution if gates are wanted is probably the NJI ones using a slow-motion gate drive. The Kato one drops a bit too quick and also a 4-quadrant example is a bit too new for Ed's timeframe. There are a lot of applications out there without any gates even on higher volume two-lane roadways. In the 70's (or earlier) it was more common to find no gates unless the roadway was of significant status (major city arterial or state highway) based on my observations. It was probably more of function of track speed and train frequency that will drive gate installation originally (now its much more universal for general safety).