The Very Last White River and Northern Railroad

[Cajonpassfan]

Wow, just wow🙀

[Ed Kapuscinski]

DKS...have you considered a helix?   

Ahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahahha.

[Chris333]

Upvoted because... Holy $hit!

[glakedylan]

thanks for sharing
Gary

[DKS]

That said, it is my understanding the outermost lamp on crossing arms is supposed to be steady not flashing. Is that correct?

You are correct. However, I had no way of doing that with just two conductors. If I were to build them again today, I'd use stereo jacks so I'd have the extra line for the steady light.

[DKS]

DKS...have you considered a helix?   

http://i.imgur.com/LzpuPiS.jpg

[peteski]

Brilliant!  I now have some good hints for making similar unit for a friend's layout. I  was going to use tiny linear stepper motors with some sort of a microcontroller, but  this is so much easier and simpler. I like that.

 Is there any way to get a closeup to get more details around the area marked "7"?  How does the horizontal linear motion get translated into up/down motion?  Yes, it was described, but I'm more of a visual person.

[VonRyan]

Brilliant!  I now have some good hints for making similar unit for a friend's layout. I  was going to use tiny linear stepper motors with some sort of a microcontroller, but  this is so much easier and simpler. I like that.

 Is there any way to get a closeup to get more details around the area marked "7"?  How does the horizontal linear motion get translated into up/down motion?  Yes, it was described, but I'm more of a visual person.

There’s a rod that has a paddle on the other end which engages a pin linked to the gate arm.

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[peteski]

Thanks Cody. So none of the items in the mechanism as shown are producing the up/down motion? 

Any chance to see photos of the linkage under the layout?  Sorry to be a pain. 

[LKOrailroad]

You are correct. However, I had no way of doing that with just two conductors. If I were to build them again today, I'd use stereo jacks so I'd have the extra line for the steady light.

4 SOD's in the tube wired to the last LED.

[Chris333]

In Cody's last pic I think the gate wire just sits on that paddle soldered to the end of the rod. The paddle pushes the wire (and gate) up.

I think.

[Philip H]

There’s a rod that has a paddle on the other end which engages a pin linked to the gate arm.

I think the issue for folks is the styrene arm in side the building and brass rods it engages with seem to be moving in a horizontal plane and folks are having trouble visualizing how this causes the paddle to rotate vertically . . . .

[peteski]

I think the issue for folks is the styrene arm in side the building and brass rods it engages with seem to be moving in a horizontal plane and folks are having trouble visualizing how this causes the paddle to rotate vertically . . . .

EDIT:

Never mind,  it finally clicked in my head.   

Exactly.

How does this horizontal movement of the brass rod:
The bottom end of this rod is soldered to a pivot made from a horizontal rod.


Become a turning motion of this rod, which then rotates the paddle attached to it up (I assume this is that paddle which engages the rod that lifts the gate above the layout surface.
This is the other end of that horizontal rod (with the paddle). As the vertical rod is moved by the plastic paddle, it rotates the horizontal rod, which then rotates the small paddle coupled to the crossing gate.


How about a photo showing the overall area of the gates and the mechanism on top? I would like to see why one of the sliding arms was installed in the "leg" of the "T" shaped foundation.

[DKS]

In Cody's last pic I think the gate wire just sits on that paddle soldered to the end of the rod. The paddle pushes the wire (and gate) up.

I think.

Correct. That end shot of the paddle didn't show the pin that moves the arm because the unit had been removed.

I would like to see why one of the sliding arms was installed in the "leg" of the "T" shaped foundation.

Only because that was the shape of the building foundation. If the building was a different size/shape, the slider (and associated parts) would have been designed differently.

[DKS]

How about a photo showing the overall area of the gates and the mechanism on top?

Here you go. I highlighted the hidden actuating rods.



After this adventure, I had another less-dramatic success. On a whim I decided to try an experiment: solder leads to an 0201 warm white SMD LED—specifically, solder a piece of brass rod to one terminal, and ultra-fine magnet wire to the other, to make an old incandescent streetlight. I actually chuckled as I hooked up the test power supply, wondering why I even tried. Then, if I hadn't seen the outcome with my own eyes (and had two witnesses), I wouldn't have believed I could do it. But there it was, glowing away. So I made a second just to be sure it wasn't a fluke, and it wasn't. I really only needed two, but now I want to make a bunch more. The shade, incidentally, is a Tichy N Scale lampshade.