I went to a steam up at a local railroad museum. Just static displays of couple cabooses, signals and other artifacts inside a depot that served 2 different railroads at Linden Indiana. The steam up was fun but we ran inside in the old baggage area with dim lighting so no pics of that. But the curator and his assistant just had to have my Countess and 4 passenger coaches. I named my price as it is to large to run on my new raised railway. He kept making offers as the day progressed and was getting close to what I needed for it. Then he asked if there was anything in the excess pile of signals and stuff. I got a complete grade crossing light with bell, pole with its mounting base at the bottom, 4 matching lights with good lenses and just minor bending of the targets and visors along with the proper flasher relay to make them work. To have purchased this locally from someone I know sells these things, would have cost me just over what I wanted for the train package. Took a bit with minimal tools on hand to disassemble the whole thing so it would fit in my friends truck. I will put it back together when I get a base made to bolt the thing upright in my railway area(looking for one of the metal prefab bases for it now vs pouring a concrete base).

Here are some pics of the crossing flasher signal and its relay that actually makes them work. I will put it all back together when I am able to erect the pole in my back garden. Its all alum, so not real heavy. Very early models in the USA were cast iron and extremely heavy! Mike
Here is the warning bell, it goes on top of the pole

Here is the pole, the base is at the far end

Here are the 4 light heads and mounting “spider”

And here is the huge relay that alternates the lights.

So you are changing scales? (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

LOL, if only I could model in 1:1 scale! But no, I haven’t hit the lottery yet. Mike

very cool find

Will you be able to make it operational?

Darn, what a catch!

Yes, I tested the flasher relay, it works properly. Once I get or make a foundation with 4 bolts sticking up to bolt the mast upright, its just a matter of wiring up the lights. Somewhere in my stash of stuff I have a schematic of setting up a complete basic single track crossing protection circuit with approach, island, approach circuits with the track shunt relays ect. I dont need all of that, just the EOR relay that I got yesterday. I would like to find one of the small relay cabinets to put the power supply and relay in someday soon. Mike

Way cool. I am jealous. Very cool

That sounds like a decent trade (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)Looks like yet another railroad thing which was definitely built to last.

How close are your neighbors? They are sure to enjoy the bell! (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)

Winner, winner, Chicken Dinner!

I wont run the bell much, it will be on a seperate switch. I made some progress today. I remove the bottom mounting flange 2 piece casting and started to form up a base next to the railway and the deck. Tomorrow I will get some long carriage bolts to imbed in concrete to make the base. I made up a plywood template to hold them in the right position till the concrete cures. I will also imbed a curved conduit elbow to feed power to the lights. Takes 3 wires for the flashers, and 2 wires for the bell. Mike

Nice Score!! Wonder where one could find one that would be for sale , without borrowing it from a crossing some where. About what would it cost?

Edited to say looked on everyones favorite site to buy things and saw them for sale at about $1300.00 or so depending on extras

That is SWEET !

Your neighbors might think there is an ambulance or fire truck at your house every time you turn this on.

I poured a concrete foundation a couple days ago at the corner of our deck between 2 bushes. Whilst waiting for it to cure, I got the bell working again. It had a huge yellow jacket nest under the bell(no living ones thankfully!!) and looked like it had been laying in water. After a good bath, both inside and out, then air drying in the sun, I lubricated everything, polished the contacts and with some help, she started ringing again. I will have the bell on its own switch, so I can run the lights without the bell. There is a gentleman not far from where I live that sells these, advertises on Craigslist. He has flashers, other RR signals, dwarf signals, crossing gates ect. And yes, they usualy fetch 950-1500 for a complete pole with 4 lamps, cross buck and sometimes a bell. Not all poles had a bell, some just have a decorative cap on the top. Mike

Here is the inside of the crossing bell, works off electromagnets that get momentarly energized causing the linkage to bounce up down swinging the clapper against the bell. The contacts are at the end of the return springs and turn on the magnets for just a moment to pull the linkage back down.

Awesome!

Made a bunch of progress today, I got the mast upright and plum within a degree or two this morning, got the cross bucks mounted after straightening one that was bent. Then I set about taking the lights off the spider mount. After unwiring, and unbolting the arms, the lights were off and I could mount the crosstree spider to the mast. I then remounted the lights/arms one at a time, putting the wiring back as it should be as I went. I am using a 3 wire outdoor extension cord to feed power to the lights. Need someone to build me a mini relay cabinet so I can put the power supply and EOR relay in it. My step ladder isnt tall enough to safely put the bell back on the top, so I need some help on that, so for now the top of the mast is open. Mike

well we dont need a double post! You all can also see the new railway on the left side. I have the track to finish it up, will try to get that done in the next couple of days.

Looks good , Mike(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Here is what I ran after I did all that work. Mike