Marx Signal Wiring - How?

could yo post a pic of your light? I've hooked up several Marx lights to a simple lock on. MIght have to swap wires to get the particular light you want to be one.

Well it probably has three wires. One is ground. Just touch the wires to power, find ground and then pick which light you want. Or both.

Update: tried all three wires, it blinked and now won't light up at all

ES44AC posted:

Update: tried all three wires, it blinked and now won't light up at all

Wrong voltage bulbs probably used, or transformer set much higher than nominal 12-14V.  Or switch at base you mentioned has loose or corroded contacts.

ES44AC, I assume that you don't have the original box.  The instructions were printed on the box.  This is a No.464 "Automatic" Block signal, but it is not completely automatic.  As you surmised, the switch on the base allows for block control.  The idea is that an isolated section of track is set up with the pins removed from the middle rail.  This is the Control Section, and is placed ahead of the signal.  The signal is attached to the track at two points - one inside and one outside the Control Section.  Then, when a train is running, power will be received in the control section when the signal's switch is set to show Green, and the train will continue through.  If the switch is set to show Red,  no power is directed to the Control Section, and a train will stop there.  In order for the train to resume running, someone must moved the signal switch by hand.  It is not automatic.

In its original state, the signal came with two old-style blade-type track terminals.  The black and red wires were connected to the two blade terminal.  This terminal is connected to the track outside of the Control Section.  The blade with the red wire attached should be connected to the middle rail.  The black wire is connected to an outside rail.  The green wire is attached to the one blade terminal.  It is connected to the isolated middle rail inside the control Section.  Note that the purpose of the green wire's terminal is to deliver power to the Control Section when the signal shows green.  It is not designed to receive power from it.

As a side note, I discovered that the internal connections inside my signal were reversed, and the signal worked just the opposite of its design.  Trains stopped in the control section when the switch was set to green!  Oh, well.

You state that you just want the signal to light up.  Try this.  Connect the black wire to an outside track (ground) and set the switch to the right.  Then, when the red wire is attached to power (positive), the red light should  be lit.  When power is attached to the green wire, the green light should be lit.  If that doesn't work, move the switch to the left side.  In order to have your signal change colors automatically, you will have to use a relay to change power between the green and red wires.    If you just want the green (or red) light to display, just connect the red and black wires (the two blade terminal) to the track and move the switch lever accordingly.  

Thor's Instruction Page

Thanks guys! I’ve been a little lazy with this  but I’ll hook it up tomorrow  and see what happens.