As some of you may already know, I’m working on fixing some old Lionel standard gauge trains for someone I work for. One of those things, which I finished working on tonight, is Lionel’s No.82 Semaphore.
"Automatic Semaphores will add life and realism to your Lionel Railroad. As the train approaches No.82 or No.082 Automatic Semaphore, the arm drops, the red light illuminates and the train comes to a stop. After a short interval, the arm goes up, the light changes to green and the train will proceed on its journey.
You can even control the interval during which the train stops. On the back of the Semaphore base there is a controlling lever. When the lever is set on the “fast” position, the train stops for only a few seconds. When the lever is on the “slow” position, The train will stop for a longer period.
If you don’t want the train to be stopped by the Semaphore, place the lever on the “continuous” position and the train will go past the Semaphore although the light will change and the arm will rise as usual."
I’ve completely replaced all the wiring (exactly how it was) and gotten the Semaphore’s arm to work freely. The problem is, I don’t know how it’s supposed to work like they say it does in the instruction book.
Wires 1 and 2 go to the constant power of the track, and wires 3 and 4 connect to a special insulated track. I don’t have any good track around to test it with, so I’ve tried powering it with both AC and DC in the way it would be while the train is running. When there’s no power to 3 and 4 (train not there), the electromagnet is off and the arm stays down and the light is red. When it’s powered up (train arrives), the arm goes up and the light is green. Basically, it’s exactly opposite of what Lionel describes. When the engine would be fully on the insulated track, power will continue through