Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

Any ideas?
I have one.

As far as I've always heard, it was designed to simulate the old wigwag indication for "stop", but without any moving parts.

fgossage wrote:As far as I've always heard, it was designed to simulate the old wigwag indication for "stop", but without any moving parts.

Shucks. Thoughthat was my theory - the flagman waving his red lantern.

Well, that's what the wigwag was based off of.... so, yes.

And for that reason, is why people don't like LEDs very much. The instant on/off characteristics of most LEDs are not what a lantern looks like. Most people like the incandescents because of their fading feature (some LEDs do fade, such as most Safetran FLX-2000 LEDs, Harmon fading, and the Safetran FLX-4000 Dialight ball LED, although the Harmon and FLX-4000 do not fade very well, and some FLX-2000 LEDs don't even fade at all). The other reason for the incandescents is the price. $18 vs. up to $400 for the FLX-4000 LED module.

Smjh1979 wrote:And for that reason, is why people don't like LEDs very much. The instant on/off characteristics of most LEDs are not what a lantern looks like. Most people like the incandescents because of their fading feature (some LEDs do fade, such as most Safetran FLX-2000 LEDs, Harmon fading, and the Safetran FLX-4000 Dialight ball LED, although the Harmon and FLX-4000 do not fade very well, and some FLX-2000 LEDs don't even fade at all). The other reason for the incandescents is the price. $18 vs. up to $400 for the FLX-4000 LED module.

Thanks.
Had no idea they went to the trouble of fading LEDs on and off to mimic incandescent filaments.

I prefer the instant on, which is so unnatural that it attracts one's gaze - which should be the purpose of thses lights.
We have LEDs on our ambulance and fire apparatus of my fire department.
They work very well, especially the rich blue colors.

Robert_Gift wrote:

Smjh1979 wrote:And for that reason, is why people don't like LEDs very much. The instant on/off characteristics of most LEDs are not what a lantern looks like. Most people like the incandescents because of their fading feature (some LEDs do fade, such as most Safetran FLX-2000 LEDs, Harmon fading, and the Safetran FLX-4000 Dialight ball LED, although the Harmon and FLX-4000 do not fade very well, and some FLX-2000 LEDs don't even fade at all). The other reason for the incandescents is the price. $18 vs. up to $400 for the FLX-4000 LED module.

Thanks.
Had no idea they went to the trouble of fading LEDs on and off to mimic incandescent filaments.

I prefer the instant on, which is so unnatural that it attracts one's gaze - which should be the purpose of thses lights.
We have LEDs on our ambulance and fire apparatus of my fire department.
They work very well, especially the rich blue colors.

LED's in my opinion are good during daylight hours as they are much easier to see... especially if the sun is shining on the signals or whatever. But in most cases they are MUCH too bright at night. Just my worth.

I prefer any type that is very, very bright. Some incandescents that are seen in some Modern Industries frames, and some WCH frames are too dull, and are only half to only 10% of their brightness.

Here's one example of incandescent lights in Modern Industries frames:
That was not a camera malfunction. The brightness was really like that. I wish I could've gotten it on video instead though.

Here's another set in WCH frames:

Another set in WCH frames:

As you can see in those examples, that's why I like LEDs (when they work, that is...). Some incandescents like what are found in Harmon and Safetran frames are just fine, and don't need any replacing.

EDIT: I don't care what kind of light/LED is used, as long as it is super bright. It doesn't matter to me if it fades, or if it's on/off instantly.

cabman701 wrote:But in most cases they are MUCH too bright at night. Just my worth.

You mean like this?

Robert_Gift wrote:
...I prefer the instant on, which is so unnatural that it attracts one's gaze...

I don't really like that because at night, they could disorient a driver, IMO.