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  • LED Crossings on Main/Bergen County Line

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey

Moderator: David

 #108768  by nygiants21
 
Are there any crossings on either the Main or Bergen County line (Besides the one @ Hawthorne station) that have LED's and gates instead of just incandescants and gates?

 #108804  by SecaucusJunction
 
I think the Glen Rock Main Line crossing does
 #109020  by MikeW
 
What are LEDs?
 #109024  by sullivan1985
 
MikeW wrote:What are LEDs?
Instead of a traditional bulb, it's a series of small bright lights that don't burn out easy and can be seen much easier. Newer traffic lights use them. If you look closly at a newer traffic light you'll see the light is made up of a lot of smaller lights (LED's). They are also on the front of your computers case blinking everytime the CPU accesses the Hard Drive.

 #109030  by Lackawanna484
 
Light Emitting Diodes

As Sullivan 1985 explained, they have an exceptionally long lifespan, and use minimal amounts of power. They have a much more intense appearance, and are showing up in some new cars as brake lights. Cadillac uses them.
 #109034  by MikeW
 
Thanks. Yes I've see them all over the place but never knew thier name.

 #111606  by ryanov
 
sullivan1985 wrote:I think Valley Brook Ave in Lyndhurst on the Main Line *MIGHT* use them. Not to sure, havn't been down there in a while so I forget.
But where does Valley Brook cross the Main Line exactly?

 #111637  by Lackawanna484
 
ryanov wrote:
sullivan1985 wrote:I think Valley Brook Ave in Lyndhurst on the Main Line *MIGHT* use them. Not to sure, havn't been down there in a while so I forget.
But where does Valley Brook cross the Main Line exactly?
I didn't make the original post, but think Valley Brook Road in Lyndhurst stays south of the current Main Line alignment, which goes into a tunnel north of the intersection of VBR and Orient Way.

The disused spur to Kingsland Shops / Benedict Steel and the Kingsland Cut-Off was once part of the Main Line, but I'm not sure that's even signalled at Valley Brook

 #111677  by cjvrr
 
Just and FYI on LEDs. Their lifespan is about 7-10 years but colors such as red degrade and become less bright with time. If in direct sunlight the red color degrades quicker.

They use about 1/10 the electricity a regular bulb uses. On traffic signals the savings over one year can be substantial. They don't burn out like a regular bulb either. A small portion of the LED's will die, making what looks like a crack in the lense, this allows maintenance crews to replace them during regular work hours and not have to get called in for overtime such as when a regular incandescent burns out.

New signals use a small packet of LED's instead of an entire "bulb". The packet is a small number of LEDs in the center of the fixture with a reflector and lense. These look like the old style incandescents from the outside but have the benefits of the LED.

LED's aren't cheap, when I priced them for a traffic signal project a few years ago, one red LED was well over $100. An incandesecent is about $0.90.

Chris

 #111715  by wis bang
 
They're making inroads in Tractor Trailer lighting too. The initial cost difference was 10 to 0ne but it's changed as technological improvements get more light from fewer LED's. They sell 'en as able to last ten years on a truck...

There is a safety bonus in addition to the reduced electric current draw. LED's don't 'burn' a filiment so there's no lag, they light the instant they receive power. they also are instant off too, no decay of the filament glowing for a split second. Impact does not knock them out either, no filament to break from the shock.

Now that they are being used by the Major Auto MFG's we'll see more of them.

 #111759  by Pete
 
They're everywhere, are going to get cheaper, and are something of a quiet revolution these days.