Around the Room Layout Entrance - 6
to the hinges on the gate. That way, the stranded wires are
twisted each time the gate opens and not bent back and forth
which would surely break them over a period of time.
When my niece was young, there was almost an incident
where a train was driven into what Charlie Comstock would call
the “The Gorge of Eternal Peril.” That near-miss encouraged
me to add an electric interlock to stop trains approaching the
open access gate.
I placed two micro switches on the hinged side where the
opening gate would activate them (10). The switches cut track
power to the two blocks on the gate, and on the approaching
tracks at least 2 feet on either side of the gate. That worked
with DC operation for more than 15 years. More recently, I
added a magnetic switch sensor that connects to my JMRI
8
8. Cam action – closed.
9
9. Cam action – opening.
10
7. Detail of limit switches.
MRH-Feb 2013
