Newman Atkinson says:

Bernard,
Take a look at my gate or (hinged track as you say.) I built a 3 track gate that I travel through at least 10 times a day just to get tools (not even to run the trains). It is on my you tube page. ” shrinehillrail ” I also call it Gates Pass in some of my videos. Two of the three tracks are on a 2%climb. Every rail is cut at a different place. I built it from scratch and spent 2 months on it. The gate is counter weighted to return to the guide (Slide)plate so it holds the weight after any entry. The gate is then pushed closed till it hits a stop plate. There the tracks are aligned There is a cabinet magnet that holds the gate closed and aligned. There is no locking pins to find and align with a hole. Not yet installed is a micro switch that will kill power to the tracks approaching either side of the gate if the tracks become miss aligned. The tracks have already been insulated about a foot and a half away from the gate. The gate is simple as for your guests to be able to operate on their own. Since I do not have the micro switch installed yet I only have to keep an eye on the gate to make sure it is not open. Eventually the gate will also have red light so train operators can see the micro switch has tripped. The video that shows the operation is “Counterweight of the pass through gate”. You may have to go back a few videos to see it. To date the gate has worked flawless. This is the lower gate of a double gate system. This gate is the lower level and swings inward. The gate above it on what will be the main level, will be a raise gate and will be counter balances so it will stay up or stay down. This gate will start to be constructed during this winter. Once the upper gate is in position then the procedure will be to check for trains, Raise the upper level gate, Push the lower gate inward, Close the lower gate and then lower the main level gate. When trains are not running, The main level gate can be left open, and the lower gate will always close on its own to to the guide slide plate to the get is always held up. Check out the Heavy fright on the Shrine Hill Railroad which is a 40 foot train in HO that passes this gate. Let me know if you have any questions, from Newman Atkinson