@MartyE posted:Cross at your own risk on my layout for now. Personal responsibility is rule #1.
Ditto here. No "protection" at all, but the locals who cross recognize that trains are unbeatable. They don't travel with their windows up and their stereos blaring, texting or staring at their phones while driving, or blissfully unconcerned with anyone but themselves. Fortunately, trains are big, noisy, and smelly: they literally shake the ground, so they are pretty easy to spot, and nobody in Notch or Marmaros, MO, is selfish enough to ask for a law eliminating the bells and whistles that the engines use to alert drivers to their presence. Therefore, there has never been a grade crossing incident, and it is unlikely there ever will be unless some city-slickers invade.
Now, I do have a lighted #77 Crossing Gate and a #45 Gateman for the Standard Gauge Christmas layout, but they're for the big city part of the scene, and, honestly, they are present mostly because the city gov't appreciates the lights and motion they add to the festive atmosphere. 
And EVERYBODY on the layout knows that the trains always come from one direction and always pass at 30 second intervals, so crossing the tracks is predictable if a little frantic.
