Williams 42701 Operating Crossing Gate

You must have the isolated rail not hooked up correctly. It appears that you are feeding direct power to the gate. If you have a meter, check and see if the rail is completely isolated. Tstark

You need to add insulated pins to each end of the insulated track section. This way when the train runs over this section power goes to the insulated rail from bridging thru the metal wheels/axles from the other outside rail and completes the circuit. The insulated pins prevent that complete circuit when no train is present.

Peter 

pdx1955 posted:

You need to add insulated pins to each end of the insulated track section.

 

Peter 

I'd bet he did this, but didn't remove the same rail & insulate it from the ties. That's the tricky part.

Thanks. The insulated rail is insulated at both ends. No insulators on ties.  Other rails use standard metal pins.

The insulated rail must be insulated at both ends and from the ties, otherwise, the plastic/fiber pins do nothing. Follow the electrical path- that rail is still connected to the other outside rail(& as such the rest of the layout).

I'll try insulating the other rail and see how it works. Not sure why I didn't think of that....!

 A question, are you using the special "insulated Track Section"?  Putting insulating pins in a "regular track section" will not work.  If both outside rails are insulated the cross gate will not operate at all.

An insulated track section works as a switch.  When the switch is closed it completes the circuit and the accessory operates, in this case a cross gate.  A special insulated track section is used as the switch with the two ouside rail being electrically isolated from each other.  The outside rail with the insulated pins is connected to the accessory.  The other outside rail is connected via metal pins to the layout outside rails which are in turn connected to the transformer.  When the train's wheels are on the special insulated track section, the wheels/axil are the electrical circuit path (ie closed switch) which operate the accessory.  Electricity flows between the two outside rails via the wheels and axis which act as a switch. 

Don't insulate the other rail, just insulate the same rail from the ties, as Rob suggests.

SJC posted:

I'll try insulating the other rail and see how it works. Not sure why I didn't think of that....!

Probably because that doesn't make sense.

shorling posted:

An insulated track section works as a switch.  When the switch is closed it completes the circuit and the accessory operates, in this case a cross gate...

Here is the diagram reduced to simplest form:

Here is the basic process with "O" or O-27 track, you can make the sections using straight or curved:

 The above  a great example of Why I love this forum so much... It takes a little work to take the pics and post them.  Good stuff ROB.

Another option is to cut the ties to separate the fiber pin only insulated rail from the remaining center rail and other outside rail assembly.

Rob, I know the center rails is insulated from the ties by those little black squares of material.  Is that like a regular card stock or some other material?

Short pieces of electrical tape would work , or heavier paper, also

As a point of reference, one can build insulated track as described here or it can be purchased.  O Gauge insulated track is Lionel 6-12840 or insulated 027 track is Lionel 6-12841.

I hope this short video helps!!

SJC, I have the K-Line version of the crossing gate. The WBB version is cosmetically nicer with the painted gate versus the plain grey plastic of the K-Line version. I painted mine to make it look nicer.

I also operate mine from accessory power, activated from a button instead of an insultated rail. Unless WBB made internal changes to the accessory, you may find that the gate does not raise fully to the upright position... this was the case with the several of these I have. Even before I painted them, this was the case.

I took one piece of a self-adhesive strip of lead weights, cut the one piece into thirds, painted it to match the gate, and then stuck to the bottom portion of the gate. Still, one of the three gates still didn't quite go back to the upright position, so I put a small washer on the inside of the metal assembly that goes into the end of the gate, and that worked.

I got mine cheaply enough that I didn't mind the tinkering. And I knew I would repaint the gates to white with red stripes.

Just for you info, in case when you get the track all set up correctly, that yours behaves like mine did... it's a pretty easy fix. You might be able to avoid the self-adhesive and just try a couple small washers.

coach joe posted:

Rob, I know the center rails is insulated from the ties by those little black squares of material.  Is that like a regular card stock or some other material?

It's fishpaper.

I'm back...

I insulated the ties on the rail with plastic pins. No change. Yes, I made sure no metal was touching. This crossing gate, even when hooked to straight track power was always a little "sporadic". Sometimes it would go down but not back up, sometimes it worked OK, sometimes it wouldn't go down at all!

I messed around with it a bit. I eventually got it to work. I pushed some cars across and it went down but even after the cars left the area and the activation track was clear, the thing was still down and solenoid still engaged.

I may mess with it a bit more but for now, I'll leave it as-is.

Thanks!

SJC posted:

I'm back...

I insulated the ties on the rail with plastic pins. No change. Yes, I made sure no metal was touching. This crossing gate, even when hooked to straight track power was always a little "sporadic". Sometimes it would go down but not back up, sometimes it worked OK, sometimes it wouldn't go down at all!

I messed around with it a bit. I eventually got it to work. I pushed some cars across and it went down but even after the cars left the area and the activation track was clear, the thing was still down and solenoid still engaged.

I may mess with it a bit more but for now, I'll leave it as-is.

Thanks!

Double check the material used to insulate the rail from ties.  Possible there is a break in material so rail touches "grounded" tie and remains that way after car exits.  Or a metal burr is sticking through the material either from rail or ties/crimp.  Insulated pins should have a raised ring around center to insure insulated rail always remains separated from track vibration and flexing.

If you touch the crossing gate wire to the insulted rail with no car on the track and the gate goes down, than the insulated rail is not properly insulated.  See RRMAN's advice above.