At our newer crossing adjacent to the Sumpter Depot we considered a remote, but elected to install a key actuated switch on the exterior wall of the control vault. This has worked very well for us. It had nothing to do with motor cars. In our case, we do not have enough room to move the train and actuate the crossing. The internal timer is set for 40 seconds, which is sufficient time for the crewman to actuate, then walk over to the Engineer's side of the train. FRA sez we have to wait 20 seconds after crossing signal actuation before proceeding across.
dan