That depends on what type of crossing you are trying to get. Will it be used for a backyard? I suggest finding a place to install a signal first as well as finding a way to power and control a signal before you start to find one. They are very big and it requires a lot of time and especially money to keep these crossings operating. I suggest to start on online websites and look for parts you don’t have and need to start your own crossing project.
I’ve got a couple questions for you. I’m trying to install a railroad crossing (gateless and 4” mast) at my house. How how deep do I pour the concrete? What wire should I use? I’m using bell wire currently. How can I make sure it doesn’t collapse? Indiana storms have been bad recently.
Signal foundations for the railroad are almost always precast meaning that they are already poured and formed before they go to the job site. Those are usually 4 feet down with a 3 by 3 foot slab at the bottom. I made my form for my backyard crossings about 9 inches deep in the ground and 2 by 2 feet wide. Those held up but had issues about a year down the road. I suggest having the concrete foundation at least 2 by 2 feet wide at the top with 4 3/4 inch threaded anchors spaced to the hole size of your casted foundation. Depth of your foundation will depend on what soil type you have and the wind strength you want it to still stand at. Not entirely on topic but I will be making precast foundations that can be relocated easily later on down the road. I plan on featuring that on my channel and how I did it but by that time you will probably have already set yours.
Thanks. My signal will be upgraded a lot in the future. I plan to get one of those metal foundations from the old Monon line. But, for now, I’ll use concrete.
Good question! The lights were not on at all actually. The reason is because a light on contact is not in this gate mechanism so it relies on the other 2 gates to turn the lights on. The bell is actually on that light on contact which is only permitted for a short period of time (temporary). It will be on its own flasher and control system completely separate from the main gates here soon.
The contacts need to be cleaned every year to ensure that each connection is a good connection. Copper will oxidize and the oxidation is not as conductive of electricity so removing that oxidized layer will make a better electrical contact.
I miss the narration like in your older videos where you explain the repair. The problem with the bell wasnt just fouled contacts was it? Looks like you made adjustments at the bell.
And I miss narrating. This was one of 3 crossings I had to maintain within the day as well as the bungalow. I was fortunate enough to get video of this as usually I cannot. It is fast paced and to record all that I do is simply not possible with just myself within a day. Unfortunately the next two videos will be like this one (unnarrated) but with their own unique problems and maintenance checks (given the gate mechanism type specified in the title). Each gate mechanism type has its own way of maintaining the mechanism and the more modern ones have more high-tech features that take more time to maintain as you will see in the next two parts. You just saw the S-20, the simplest mechanism to maintain. I will definitely take narrating more into consideration the next time I film this type of work. Thanks for sharing your thoughts so I can better my future videos!
Do you have any bells that you could possibly send here to New Mexico that I can try and fix? (i.e. custom bells, bells that simply dont work etc.) I'll be sure to send them back to the TTM when they are working properly and pass self-test inspection.
I appreciate the offer but there are a few problems with it. I don’t see a way for you to benefit fixing my bells and I would have to pay for shipping them. The cost/risk of damage from shipping alone is usually more than what a used bell costs me. This doesn’t even include the cost of replacement parts needed to fix a damaged bell.
@@RailroadSignsandSignals I'll take notice of that. Any idea on how much it would roughly cost to ship the bell despite the risks and how much the parts would be? (I'm planning on doing a summer internship job this year to make more money for situations like this) However, if this isn't feasible to you, then I'll be happy to discuss ways to reduce or eliminate said problems altogether if you'd prefer that. (Also sorry for the late reply I was riding a bike for a while and I didn't notice your comment at first)
Here are a few other important questions I would like to know. Do you have any experience with repairing railroad equipment? What equipment would you use to test the bells? What railroad standards do you follow when doing repairs and testing various highway crossing bells?
@@RailroadSignsandSignals To test the bells I'll be using 9 volt batteries, and following set standards in place for all highway crossing bells, with some knowledge of how they work and how to do repairs.
I didn’t see enough non working bells for me to sub out at this point in time, I looked back and all the bells I have on standby and the only ones with problems are ones that need to be readjusted which is easy to do. I respect your willingness to help but I simply don’t have any that require any kind of repair at this time.
They get repaired. You can look back at my S-40 video where I rebuilt the mechanism from parts I bought. The only part I had was the gate mechanism body. The back door, arms, internals and gears were purchased to repair that mechanism. I now have a dedicated “shop” where my stuff goes damaged or not. You will be surprised how little is wasted on my crossing projects. Almost all parts get used/reused or fixed to go back out into the field.
Nice 1:18 in this video can you imagine hearing the bells ring that fast at a railroad crossing
AWESOME!!!!!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😍😍😍😍😍😍
Great work!
7:27 sounds beutiful
awesome sause
Maybe this single doesn’t need a bell I think 2 is fine and u seriously have to leave the bell ringing dinging fast lol
Do you have any tips for buying railroad crossings? because I remember watching all your backyard crossing videos I was little.
That depends on what type of crossing you are trying to get. Will it be used for a backyard? I suggest finding a place to install a signal first as well as finding a way to power and control a signal before you start to find one. They are very big and it requires a lot of time and especially money to keep these crossings operating. I suggest to start on online websites and look for parts you don’t have and need to start your own crossing project.
I’ve got a couple questions for you. I’m trying to install a railroad crossing (gateless and 4” mast) at my house.
How how deep do I pour the concrete?
What wire should I use? I’m using bell wire currently.
How can I make sure it doesn’t collapse? Indiana storms have been bad recently.
Signal foundations for the railroad are almost always precast meaning that they are already poured and formed before they go to the job site. Those are usually 4 feet down with a 3 by 3 foot slab at the bottom. I made my form for my backyard crossings about 9 inches deep in the ground and 2 by 2 feet wide. Those held up but had issues about a year down the road. I suggest having the concrete foundation at least 2 by 2 feet wide at the top with 4 3/4 inch threaded anchors spaced to the hole size of your casted foundation. Depth of your foundation will depend on what soil type you have and the wind strength you want it to still stand at.
Not entirely on topic but I will be making precast foundations that can be relocated easily later on down the road. I plan on featuring that on my channel and how I did it but by that time you will probably have already set yours.
Thanks. My signal will be upgraded a lot in the future. I plan to get one of those metal foundations from the old Monon line. But, for now, I’ll use concrete.
Why can't we see it flashing? Is it due to the camera placement?
Good question! The lights were not on at all actually. The reason is because a light on contact is not in this gate mechanism so it relies on the other 2 gates to turn the lights on. The bell is actually on that light on contact which is only permitted for a short period of time (temporary). It will be on its own flasher and control system completely separate from the main gates here soon.
@@RailroadSignsandSignals oh okay cool thanks
@@RailroadSignsandSignals why wasn't there a light contact
Only 7 wires running to the signal from the time it was a gateless signal. Now I need 11 wires to provide every function the gate can have.
@@RailroadSignsandSignals oh okay
Why were you using sandpaper on the connection on the gate?
The contacts need to be cleaned every year to ensure that each connection is a good connection. Copper will oxidize and the oxidation is not as conductive of electricity so removing that oxidized layer will make a better electrical contact.
I miss the narration like in your older videos where you explain the repair. The problem with the bell wasnt just fouled contacts was it? Looks like you made adjustments at the bell.
And I miss narrating.
This was one of 3 crossings I had to maintain within the day as well as the bungalow. I was fortunate enough to get video of this as usually I cannot. It is fast paced and to record all that I do is simply not possible with just myself within a day. Unfortunately the next two videos will be like this one (unnarrated) but with their own unique problems and maintenance checks (given the gate mechanism type specified in the title). Each gate mechanism type has its own way of maintaining the mechanism and the more modern ones have more high-tech features that take more time to maintain as you will see in the next two parts. You just saw the S-20, the simplest mechanism to maintain.
I will definitely take narrating more into consideration the next time I film this type of work. Thanks for sharing your thoughts so I can better my future videos!
How tall are you? You look kinda short compared to that signal (no offense)
Average height. The signals here are 16 feet tall.
1:02 sounds like a song
Rush E
@@BrickMasterB06 yeah
Hey just wondering, what are the light brackets on this signal, I'm remaking this crossing on roblox again lol
They are made by Harmon.
@@RailroadSignsandSignals do you know who made the bungalow? By any chance
Safetran. 4 by 6 by 8 foot bungalow.
Do you have any bells that you could possibly send here to New Mexico that I can try and fix? (i.e. custom bells, bells that simply dont work etc.) I'll be sure to send them back to the TTM when they are working properly and pass self-test inspection.
I appreciate the offer but there are a few problems with it. I don’t see a way for you to benefit fixing my bells and I would have to pay for shipping them. The cost/risk of damage from shipping alone is usually more than what a used bell costs me. This doesn’t even include the cost of replacement parts needed to fix a damaged bell.
@@RailroadSignsandSignals I'll take notice of that. Any idea on how much it would roughly cost to ship the bell despite the risks and how much the parts would be? (I'm planning on doing a summer internship job this year to make more money for situations like this) However, if this isn't feasible to you, then I'll be happy to discuss ways to reduce or eliminate said problems altogether if you'd prefer that.
(Also sorry for the late reply I was riding a bike for a while and I didn't notice your comment at first)
Here are a few other important questions I would like to know.
Do you have any experience with repairing railroad equipment?
What equipment would you use to test the bells?
What railroad standards do you follow when doing repairs and testing various highway crossing bells?
@@RailroadSignsandSignals To test the bells I'll be using 9 volt batteries, and following set standards in place for all highway crossing bells, with some knowledge of how they work and how to do repairs.
I didn’t see enough non working bells for me to sub out at this point in time, I looked back and all the bells I have on standby and the only ones with problems are ones that need to be readjusted which is easy to do. I respect your willingness to help but I simply don’t have any that require any kind of repair at this time.
what happens to broken/unusable crossings? i want a pair of lights to mount on my wall. XD
Also HOLY SHIT at 1:00
I am short on main lights by 20 pairs now. Definitely don’t have anything I can give up at the moment.
@@RailroadSignsandSignals Fiddlesticks. XD Though, my question was left unanswered. what happens to the damaged signals?
They get repaired. You can look back at my S-40 video where I rebuilt the mechanism from parts I bought. The only part I had was the gate mechanism body. The back door, arms, internals and gears were purchased to repair that mechanism. I now have a dedicated “shop” where my stuff goes damaged or not. You will be surprised how little is wasted on my crossing projects. Almost all parts get used/reused or fixed to go back out into the field.
11:00 idk
Hi