Westinghouse Fixtures

Black buttons

Westinghouse made black buttons for their elevators starting in the late 1950s.

These buttons were usually paired with indicators consisting of a piece of metal with cutout numbers that light up. These were very rarely made with "Synchrodial" rotodial indicators in their call stations.

Produced c.1953-1967
Rarity Rating: 8/10

Operating panel with black buttons

Call station with "Synchrodial" indicator

Pop-out buttons

Westinghouse made pop-out buttons for their earliest automatic elevators. When pressed, these buttons latch in the pressed position with a solenoid, and are released when the elevator arrives at the selected floor. The most common version is a black button that doesn't light up (though often with a light next to it), and an illuminating white version was also made.

These buttons were usually paired with triangle call or black button call stations, and regular black buttons for door controls. These are extremely rare nowadays as almost all of them have been modernized.

Produced c.1953-1967
Rarity Rating: 10/10

Car operating panel with black pop-out buttonsphoto: Skivator

Triangle call stations

These metal triangle call buttons were usually used with black buttons for the operating panels.

Disused triangle call buttons on a disused bank of elevators

AE

AE consists of a white button that lights up, often with a number printed on its face. Call buttons usually have triangle arrows, door and alarm buttons have words printed. AE indicators are made up of segments similar to AE buttons.

Many Westinghouse elevators from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s have EPCO Circleline buttons on their operating panel.

Produced c.1967-1989
Rarity Rating: 5/10

Late 1970s AE operating panel

Early 1980s AE panel with EPCO Circleline buttons

AE call station

AE analog position indicator

1970s AE lantern

1980s EPCO lantern on a Westinghouse with AE

Black AE

This is an extremely rare variant of AE with black buttons that don't light up.

A mix of black and white AE buttons.photo: Elyse Horvath

RT

RT (also known by its Adams name, PEP) consists of an illuminating white round Adams button, usually with a wraparound braille. Call buttons have triangles printed on their faces.

Most RT installs from the Westinghouse era have an analog indicator which looks similar to the buttons themselves. A few very late examples have a red LED indicator, which today is better known for its use with Schindler MT.

Produced (by Westinghouse) 1984-1989
(later by Schindler 1990-2002)
Rarity Rating: 3/10