The diagram is really self-explanatory and believe it or not, it really does work.
Components:
Plastic straws
Lacquered wire removed from an old winding
Panel pins
Fuse wire or similar
Plastikard or similar
Push buttons or lever frame
Wire
and of course
The signal
The main ingedients are the armatures and the simple fact is that the more wire you get onto the plastic straw the more powerful will be the pull - but you don't need it too powerful.
The use of simple cheap push-buttons is perfectly acceptable as only a momentary press will result in the signal changing position. It is of course perfectly viable to connect to a lever frame for more authenticity.