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The very same crossing signal and gate as this one www.deviantart.com/willm3luvtr… but I added some things below the crossing gate mechanism. I added the crossing gate motor that goes on the base of the signal and the tube or pipe or whatever that connects the base of the signal to the gate mechanism.

I debated if I should make the gate motor at the base of the signal and the connecting tube and started to in the last picture, but then I decided to add the extra stuff to make the signal a little more realistic.

So now we have a railroad crossing signal with a white crossbuck with black letters (R15-1,) 12" lights in 20" backgrounds, peep holes on the side of the light housings, a Western Cullen Hayes mechanical bell, and a red and white gate, which I made aluminum and fiberglass, hence the gray part on the bottom section and a light yellow section on the sleeve-section. And for the cherry on top, the crossing gate lights, which are supposed to be 4" lights.

By the way I didn't just make this, I saw something on the internet two years ago that inspired me to make my crossing signal in this angle.

Two years ago as I was Googling crossing signals, maybe HO scale crossing signals, I found a website talking about making more realistic railroad crossing signals than the ones that exist, and probably criticizing the existing crossing signals calling them "cheesy," and I agree with them on that. They were talking about making HO crossing signals that had flat lens on the lights, L.E.D.s the were small and acted like incandescent lights, even having the signals have a peep whole for the L.E.D.s to flash white out of (I assume they were planning to make the crossing signal lenses red and have very tiny white L.E.D.s installed in them. I also remember them saying something about making 12" lights, well HO scale versions of 12" lights and with HO 20" backgrounds. And they also were talking about making crossing gates that had reflective stripes on them like real ones do and even having HO scale 4" gate lights! And that's not all, I think they said something about having a lighted relay bungalow like in real life! And some signals having forward-facing only lights and some having forward and rear facing lights, and possibly some signals with side-road lights. They also said something about bells that sound like mechanical bells!

Someone, or someone among a few other people, had this goal of coming up with HO scale crossing signals that not only look but act like real signals, more so than the ones by NJ International, Tomar Industires, Oregon Rail Supply, Detail West, and more, although they didn't mention the names of such companies, just said the signals were cheesy among some other things.

I cannot find the website anymore unfortunately, the website is probably dissolved and they may have decided to call the whole thing off. I guess they're not able to do that, in fact who can? That was too good to be true too!

But because of that, I was hit with the idea of making a digital railroad crossing signal and from the side, not just from the front, that way I can not only have the red lights show but also have the white lights in the peep holes of the light housings show, and so after two years, well less than that actually, I came up with this. And I wanted my signal to have 12"x20" lights facing both frontward and rearward, a mechanical bell, and a red and white gate with 4" lights. But I didn't specify if my lights were incandescent or L.E.D., that's for you to decide. And like I said before, some L.E.D.s flash red on the parts facing traffic but flash white on the peep holes.

A little more fun fact, that website also inspired me to think of two kinds of modern railroad crossing signals, both with 12"x20" lights and both with gates, except in the form of L.E.D.s. And these are the two light combinations I had.

One type of signal I had in mind was one lit with Dialight Hi-Flux L.E.D.s, or as we railfans call them "Ball L.E.D.s," and gates with L.E.D. 4" gate lights. This type of signal L.E.D. www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it… looks like a classic signal as the Dialight L.E.D.s look more like incandescent lights, having one big L.E.D. instead of a bunch of tiny L.E.D.s in one light housing. I also mention the 4" gate lights because 4" lights were also incandescent, and with 4" lights, it's not very obvious that the lights are L.E.D., in fact unless the gate lights light up, you won't know if they're incandescent or L.E.D. And if the lights fade in and fade out, more than likely they're incandescent, if they don't fade in or fade out, they're definitely L.E.D! So this signal combination matches the classic version of the crossing signals. One problem though, the peep holes do not light up in white, they light up in red. I would like to see a crossing signal that has incandescent-looking L.E.D.s like Dialight's but have the peep holes light up in white, although I think LeoTek does something like that leotek.com/led-railroad-lighti…, unless I misread that. For L.E.D crossing gate lights www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it…, www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it… (National Electric Gate 4" L.E.D.s) and www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it… (R.E.C.O. 4" L.E.D.)
The other type of signal I had in mind was made up of Electro-Tech's L.E.D.s for both the signal and gate. Like incandescent lights, these lights also fade in and fade out as they flash and have peep holes that light up in white. www.deviantart.com/willm3luvtr… and www.deviantart.com/willm3luvtr… But unlike the incandescent-looking L.E.D.s, these are pixilated-look L.E.D.s so though they fade in and out like incandescent lights, they don't look like incandescent lights. And the crossing gate lights are the octagon-shaped gate lights. www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it… They're like the 4" lights except they're flatter, and as I said "octagon-shaped" and have pixilated/obvious L.E.D.s and they DON'T fade in and out when flashing. And they're more red than even the classic 4" lights! Eletro-Tech's does however make the L.E.D.s for 4" lights www.electro-techs.net/product_…. And they told me they also make L.E.D.s for those much less attractive Aurora gate lights made/manufactured by Alstom and National Electric Gate. I believe the lights in the following video are Electro-Tech signal L.E.D.s www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it…
I didn't come up with a bell for these signals though. If you want a mechanical bell, all I can tell you is to go with Western Cullen Hayes, they're the only railroad signal company, that I know of, that still makes mechanical bells, otherwise you're stuck using electronic bells, which there are plenty of now! It's too bad nobody makes hybrid bells anymore, back when Safetran was still in existence they made hybrid bells at least until 2005 or 2006.

I did just think of this combination, it's like option 1, except instead of Dialight "Ball" L.E.D.s, Harmon or General Electric uniform-look fading L.E.D.s www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it…! I mean they don't come with white peep-hole lights either that I know of, but they have dotted L.E.D.s that are made less obvious by the lenses! And they pair well with 4" lights, namely the L.E.D. version; Electro-Tech's octagon-shaped L.E.D.s, and admittedly Aurora L.E.D.s. They would also pair well with School-Bus Stop Sign L.E.D. lights if only they could serve as crossing gate lights too! news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/l… vehiclelamp.com/2-2-school-bus…. I don't have my own pictures of these lights right now and I'm trying to get some and I need to figure out a way how and without giving any wrong impressions. I mean I have one but it's not good enough, I was too far away from the bus to get a good picture! Another example of L.E.D.s www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it… and www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it… 12"x20" Harmon L.E.D.s with 4" L.E.D. gate lights and GS type 2 electronic bells www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it…

That's all I have to say about this picture, except I also have an animated version of this as you'll see. www.deviantart.com/willm3luvtr…

Description
The very same crossing signal and gate as this one www.deviantart.com/willm3luvtr… but I added some things below the crossing gate mechanism. I added the crossing gate motor that goes on the base of the signal and the tube or pipe or whatever that connects the base of the signal to the gate mechanism.

I debated if I should make the gate motor at the base of the signal and the connecting tube and started to in the last picture, but then I decided to add the extra stuff to make the signal a little more realistic.

So now we have a railroad crossing signal with a white crossbuck with black letters (R15-1,) 12" lights in 20" backgrounds, peep holes on the side of the light housings, a Western Cullen Hayes mechanical bell, and a red and white gate, which I made aluminum and fiberglass, hence the gray part on the bottom section and a light yellow section on the sleeve-section. And for the cherry on top, the crossing gate lights, which are supposed to be 4" lights.

By the way I didn't just make this, I saw something on the internet two years ago that inspired me to make my crossing signal in this angle.

Two years ago as I was Googling crossing signals, maybe HO scale crossing signals, I found a website talking about making more realistic railroad crossing signals than the ones that exist, and probably criticizing the existing crossing signals calling them "cheesy," and I agree with them on that. They were talking about making HO crossing signals that had flat lens on the lights, L.E.D.s the were small and acted like incandescent lights, even having the signals have a peep whole for the L.E.D.s to flash white out of (I assume they were planning to make the crossing signal lenses red and have very tiny white L.E.D.s installed in them. I also remember them saying something about making 12" lights, well HO scale versions of 12" lights and with HO 20" backgrounds. And they also were talking about making crossing gates that had reflective stripes on them like real ones do and even having HO scale 4" gate lights! And that's not all, I think they said something about having a lighted relay bungalow like in real life! And some signals having forward-facing only lights and some having forward and rear facing lights, and possibly some signals with side-road lights. They also said something about bells that sound like mechanical bells!

Someone, or someone among a few other people, had this goal of coming up with HO scale crossing signals that not only look but act like real signals, more so than the ones by NJ International, Tomar Industires, Oregon Rail Supply, Detail West, and more, although they didn't mention the names of such companies, just said the signals were cheesy among some other things.

I cannot find the website anymore unfortunately, the website is probably dissolved and they may have decided to call the whole thing off. I guess they're not able to do that, in fact who can? That was too good to be true too!

But because of that, I was hit with the idea of making a digital railroad crossing signal and from the side, not just from the front, that way I can not only have the red lights show but also have the white lights in the peep holes of the light housings show, and so after two years, well less than that actually, I came up with this. And I wanted my signal to have 12"x20" lights facing both frontward and rearward, a mechanical bell, and a red and white gate with 4" lights. But I didn't specify if my lights were incandescent or L.E.D., that's for you to decide. And like I said before, some L.E.D.s flash red on the parts facing traffic but flash white on the peep holes.

A little more fun fact, that website also inspired me to think of two kinds of modern railroad crossing signals, both with 12"x20" lights and both with gates, except in the form of L.E.D.s. And these are the two light combinations I had.

One type of signal I had in mind was one lit with Dialight Hi-Flux L.E.D.s, or as we railfans call them "Ball L.E.D.s," and gates with L.E.D. 4" gate lights. This type of signal L.E.D. www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it… looks like a classic signal as the Dialight L.E.D.s look more like incandescent lights, having one big L.E.D. instead of a bunch of tiny L.E.D.s in one light housing. I also mention the 4" gate lights because 4" lights were also incandescent, and with 4" lights, it's not very obvious that the lights are L.E.D., in fact unless the gate lights light up, you won't know if they're incandescent or L.E.D. And if the lights fade in and fade out, more than likely they're incandescent, if they don't fade in or fade out, they're definitely L.E.D! So this signal combination matches the classic version of the crossing signals. One problem though, the peep holes do not light up in white, they light up in red. I would like to see a crossing signal that has incandescent-looking L.E.D.s like Dialight's but have the peep holes light up in white, although I think LeoTek does something like that leotek.com/led-railroad-lighti…, unless I misread that. For L.E.D crossing gate lights www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it…, www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it… (National Electric Gate 4" L.E.D.s) and www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it… (R.E.C.O. 4" L.E.D.)
The other type of signal I had in mind was made up of Electro-Tech's L.E.D.s for both the signal and gate. Like incandescent lights, these lights also fade in and fade out as they flash and have peep holes that light up in white. www.deviantart.com/willm3luvtr… and www.deviantart.com/willm3luvtr… But unlike the incandescent-looking L.E.D.s, these are pixilated-look L.E.D.s so though they fade in and out like incandescent lights, they don't look like incandescent lights. And the crossing gate lights are the octagon-shaped gate lights. www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it… They're like the 4" lights except they're flatter, and as I said "octagon-shaped" and have pixilated/obvious L.E.D.s and they DON'T fade in and out when flashing. And they're more red than even the classic 4" lights! Eletro-Tech's does however make the L.E.D.s for 4" lights www.electro-techs.net/product_…. And they told me they also make L.E.D.s for those much less attractive Aurora gate lights made/manufactured by Alstom and National Electric Gate. I believe the lights in the following video are Electro-Tech signal L.E.D.s www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it…
I didn't come up with a bell for these signals though. If you want a mechanical bell, all I can tell you is to go with Western Cullen Hayes, they're the only railroad signal company, that I know of, that still makes mechanical bells, otherwise you're stuck using electronic bells, which there are plenty of now! It's too bad nobody makes hybrid bells anymore, back when Safetran was still in existence they made hybrid bells at least until 2005 or 2006.

I did just think of this combination, it's like option 1, except instead of Dialight "Ball" L.E.D.s, Harmon or General Electric uniform-look fading L.E.D.s www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it…! I mean they don't come with white peep-hole lights either that I know of, but they have dotted L.E.D.s that are made less obvious by the lenses! And they pair well with 4" lights, namely the L.E.D. version; Electro-Tech's octagon-shaped L.E.D.s, and admittedly Aurora L.E.D.s. They would also pair well with School-Bus Stop Sign L.E.D. lights if only they could serve as crossing gate lights too! news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/l… vehiclelamp.com/2-2-school-bus…. I don't have my own pictures of these lights right now and I'm trying to get some and I need to figure out a way how and without giving any wrong impressions. I mean I have one but it's not good enough, I was too far away from the bus to get a good picture! Another example of L.E.D.s www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it… and www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it… 12"x20" Harmon L.E.D.s with 4" L.E.D. gate lights and GS type 2 electronic bells www.pond5.com/stock-footage/it…

That's all I have to say about this picture, except I also have an animated version of this as you'll see. www.deviantart.com/willm3luvtr…