Not to interrupt a rollicking tongue in cheek session with a serious comment, but I actually *did* just modify my crossings!
Specifically, my two 'automated' crossings (each with a legacy Marx crossing gate and crossing warning flasher, plus a digital crossing bell module and speaker, all energized by track power) had been performing less satisfactorily of late, at the lower throttle settings that I found to keep the train running reliably. In an earlier discussion, someone had suggested powering the crossings from accessory power instead, rather than relying on track power. At the time, I'd rejected the suggestion, pointing out that this would require a separate power run from the control station, rather than being able to pick up track power anywhere on the layout (and besides, I'd already wired my crossings!) .
After some careful testing to be sure I could safely add an additional small legacy transformer and in the process cross-connect one terminal to my main ZW's common ground (which connects to the outer rails), I disconnected the original center rail power connections at both crossings, and instead connected a wire back to the 'new' transformer's 'hot' terminal. Long story short, it all worked -- the power activating each crossing device is now adjustable at the central control, and is not affected by throttle setting. The one downside I can see so far is that, if a train stops on the activation sections, the gate will continue to be held down, the bell will continue to sound (up to the end of the six second 'loop' recording), and/or the lights will light (though not 'flash', since there's no motion over the rail-top contacts). I think I'll be able to live with the limitation of having to avoid stopping the train in the crossing activation area without having to also manually kill the accessory power, but if it gets annoying, I have an extra track-voltage (actually, rated at 12 VAC) relay on order for another project I can throw in series with the 'new' power supply to kill power when the track power is off.
An additional benefit of this setup is that I can set up an isolated section and/or railtop contacts on the other loops that cross the road -- with an independent power supply and a common ground, *any* section of track, no matter how powered, can be used to activate the crossing devices. Given the number of loops I have 'crossing' the road (six!), I may be glad I can kill the crossing bell sound centrally! 
