Hayes 15887 Railroad Train / Track Crossing Sign with Flashing Lights and Sounds

For the price, I think this railroad crossing is an amazing value. We have a two year old train lover and while he loved playing with Daddy's genuine Lionel o-gauge railroad crossing - those are not suitable for young children nor were they intended to be used as toys - there are wires and solder joints with sharp metal to worry about. No such worries with this railroad crossing. It is constructed with durable plastic and the battery compartments on the bottom are sealed and require a small philips head screwdriver to remove.How it works: At the base there is a 3 position switch. At one end, you get just the blinking lights, at the other - you get the ding ding dings and the sound of a train coming... it is actually fairly noisy so you might want to limit the amount of time it is left in this position for your own sanity. It will continue to blink or make noise as long as the switch is left at one of the two end positions. To turn it off, simply move the switch to the off / neutral position in the middle. We've had it now for almost a month and the batteries are still working fine. Of course, if you run it more frequently then you might be changing batteries sooner.So, while the product was not intended for use as a toy... it's actually worked quite well in this capacity, as well as a decorative item. I measure 10.5" tall and 6.25 wide at the widest part (the lights). Clearly then, this item was definitely not made to any kind of scale - hence it not suitable for your O-gauge or HO layout. As long as scale is not a concern though, it is actually a very handsome looking railroad crossing. Our little boy will sometimes put it right on his wooden train table or walk around with it - but the rest of the time it sits proudly in the living room and ads to the train decor that we've all now grown to love. I would not hesitate to recommend this product.

This is a great toy to add a new dimension of fun for your child when used with their toy train playset. Flashing lights and train sounds add an exciting element to playtime.

I had concerns with the quality and possible fragility of this particular item after reading previous reviews. Given the very small amount of choices, I kept coming back to it. We wanted something as a decoration and this was the only thing that seemed to fit the bill. I'm pleased to write that it is exactly what we wanted. It did not arrive broken or damaged in any way. The box and shipping material were more than adequate. I'm not crazy about the sound and flashing modes as the item has to be switched on and off. There's also no telling how long the flashing mode would last before depleting the batteries, so it is rarely turned on. The sound mode is pretty harsh. I can tell what it is -- that it's the sound of a train whistle -- it's just too loud and somewhat distorted to be left on for more than a few seconds. Those minor gripes aside, it's still a great decoration (definitely NOT a toy) that belongs on a shelf. The price is right. No one else sells anything remotely close.

Perfect for my train obsessed little boy. Only took one star off because it is WAY too loud. Going to put tape/foam over the speaker to take it down a notch. Otherwise a great buy.

This Railroad train track crossing sign is absolutely amazing. The flashing lights and sounds add the perfect touch to an amazing train decor visual. I Love Love Love It!

Value for money

My grandson absolutely LOVES this! He is obsessed with trains and incorporates this into his imaginative play with his train and trucks and cars etc. I have already bought two and both broke in the same way, the stem from the base. If you are just putting it on a table with your train set, I'm sure it's great but for active play the design is really lacking. There must be a way to make the connection between the base and stem stronger or so it seems to me. Also, the lights no longer work on the first one, we have only the sound now on that one. Both are duct taped together to hold the stem upright and as you might imagine this is a constant job. Each one was in working order for less than a month!

Used this for my son’s second birthday party (Chugga Chugga Two Two!). Went great on the dessert table and he has had fun playing with it since too! Bigger than I was expecting though I hadn’t looked at measurements so was just surprised is all.