Push Button Semaphore Operation

Ground (for instance, U post) to center terminal.

Steady 12 Volts to left terminal (seen from the rear of the signal) That will illuminate the lamp all the time. Raise or reduce to taste.

Switched 12 Volts (or more, if necessary to give crisp operation) via the pushbutton, to right terminal.

(Specifically, 12 Volts to one terminal of the button, other terminal of button to right terminal.)

You are hooking it up the same way as if using a track contactor. The pushbutton contacts substitute for the contactor contacts.

Suggestion, though...

For those signals/accessories you'd have visitors actuate, you might want to power them from common bus wires.  Then I'd provide a master 'kill' switch for the bus feed in order to give yourself a subtle way of preventing solenoids, etc., from dying an overworked death at the hands of a zealous visitor.  Putting the 'kill' switch in an under-table location known only to yourself provides you a way of giving a pause to the excessive....and avoiding smoke where it was never intended!

Just a thought.

KD

A kill switch is a good idea. One can save you from needless repairs of burned up coils.

Thanks to all for your feedback, especially  the tip on the kill switch.  Dug up a tip from an old issue of CTT (attached) that talks to the subj.  Again, thanks to all for helping me find the trees from my view inside the forest!

Another useful component for protecting accessories from over-zealous visitors is the resettable fuse.  About 10 cents each on eBay (free shipping from Asia) or maybe 50 cents each from US mail order sources.

Splice one of these into a wire going to the semaphore and it will automatically kill power to the solenoid if overused.  Then after a "cooling off" period (say, a minute or so), it resets by itself and the semaphore is back in business.  No operator (you) intervention required.  You can individually protect different accessories rather than shutting down the entire operation with a master kill switch.

You need to select the correct "size" of resettable fuse based on the Amps of the accessory.  I don't know what value is suitable for a 151 semaphore (or whatever you have) but maybe someone will contribute.