Grade


Crossings DCC decoders are good at simulating the alter- nating flashing lights at grade crossings. The mo- tor control can also be used to lower and raise the crossing gate arms. BNSF 9656 East is the lead unit on E-BURBLK crossing rural hwy. 210 on John Parker’s BNSF Fall River Division. — John Parker photograph


method used to recycle a de- coder is similar to a regular locomotive decoder. First, program a decoder with a unique address and desired output effects


(light and Warning


Lights One of the simplest effects that can be achieved using an old de- coder is a flashing light. They are everywhere in the manmade world, including street signs, traffic lights, advertising signage, automobile turn signals, warning lights, blue flags, and so forth.


sound) in the program (ser- vice) mode. Remember, early decoders only support two- digit addressing. Also, make sure analog conversion is turned off, which ensures if the decoder sees DC at some point, the motor output will not turn full on. JMRI DecoderPro is help- ful for this programming and allows you to keep a perma- nent record of the decoder settings. Two decoder testers useful for this are Ulrich Models De- coder tester (formerly Loy’s Toys) http://www.ulrichmod- els.biz/servlet/the-273/De- coder-Tester/Detail and the ESU Decoder Tester http:// www.esu.eu/en/products/ decoder-tester/.


I prefer the ESU unit since it has a built-in speak- er and DC motor that covers


66 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN


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