I have been wondering for a long time on what to do when it comes to realistic signaling, mainly with the crossing gates and signals.
Since I work as a chemical tanker truck driver I drive into alot of chemical plants on a daily basis, and run into alot of train crossings and tank cars. Has there ever been a realistic crossing gate and signal made that worked just like the ones on the real railroad, where the gates come down slowly and close-to-prototypical flashing lights? I have the older Lionel crossing gate and signal (that used the dreaded pressure plate) that when a train came by the gate goes down fast and the lights stay on the whole time, no flashing. Not very great for realism, and was the reason I haven't used it very much. I also have MTH's version in which the lights do flash but at a faster rate.
It would be nice to find some crossing signals that worked more like the real ones do, and that would include the lights on the gate itself. Many real life crossings also have the overhead lighting too, and I don't know if I have ever seen those either for O-gauge.
A big layout is awesome to see, but haven't seen many with more prototypical-based signaling, especially when crossing multiple tracks.
