Old Lionel 027 switch machines

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know where I could find a diagram to wire an old Lionel switch machine and controler? It appeares to have had three or four wires coming out of the controler, to the machine. One set of 3 on each lever and a light inside. Where to all the wires go?
Propgator

[lionelsoni]

I assume that you've got 1121 or 1122 switches and a controller with two handles.

There are two cables with three wires each for each side of the controller. One wire in each cable connects to the common for both handles. The other two connect to the contacts that the common touches when you move the handle. The light socket is permanently connected to the common, with a wire to any one of the contacts.

Each cable connects to the three terminals on one switch. For the 1121, the common is in the middle. For the 1122, it is the terminal closest to the switch machine, with the metal pad under it.

Note that the light in the controller is wired in series with one of the switch coils; so it must be a low-current lamp, to avoid throwing the switch. It will blink off when the lever is moved to energize the coil that it is connected to. The red and green "lights" in the controller are covered by shutters that simply show which way you last moved the levers--they do not actually indicate the position of the switches.