CAN ANYONE HELP. I AM CONVERTING THE SPARE BEDROOM TO A HO TRAIN LAYOUT FOR THE GRAND-CHILDREN AND MYSELF. A FRIEND GAVE ME 2 O SCALE RAILKING CROSSING GATES. CAN THEY BE CONVERTED OR USED WITH THE HO SCALE. IF SO PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THRE ARE A TOTAL OF 6 WIRES FROM THE O SCALE. THANKS
Posted by Tom H (Member # 53) on :
Yes they can be used, if you do not mind them being about twice the size of HO scale. It is your railroad, so have fun with it & keep on railroading! Tom
Posted by GG-1 (Member # 1915) on :
They can be used as long as you don't mind them being a little out of place. What you could do is maybe trim them down some or see if they could be used for some other purpose (I wish I could think of something but alas, I can't). I hope that you find some use for them and enjoy the layout!
Cheers
Posted by Challenger (Member # 1298) on :
Regarding your problem with crossing gates. The O scale crossing gates can be used for an HO scale layout. However It will be about as twice as large for the trains you will be running. My sugestion would be to use one of iether the Bachmann or Life-Like automatic crossing gate offerings. The system is fully contained on both. As the train approaches the gate lowers and as the train leaves the gate raises. All you have to do is make sure that there is a 9 inch gap in track and road bed and drop the gate in. You might have to do some shimming to make sure alignment is correct. On Bachmann and Life-Like crossing gates, they include a 9 inch straight track fixed to an aprox 9" by 9" square scenic base. Complete with road way. You can detail that to suit your liking.
As a foot note. If you can find them, the Tyco crossing gates from the late 1970s would also work well here.
Posted by recess (Member # 1301) on :
There is one other issue. Railking is designed to run on AC. HO runs on DC.