I have been unable to figure this out.  Can someone lend me a hand?  Thanks.
tj

On the switch, the black button should be normally closed and should be wired as the power switch to the whole circuit. The red button should be normally open and is wired instead of a starter. Pressing the red button is like having the starter operate and will turn on the lamp. When you press the black button, you momentarily interrupt the power, turning the lamp off. When you release the black button, it completes the circuit again but the lamp will not light because it needs to be started by the manual starter loop which will only happen when the red button is pressed again.

Asbestos wiring on the switch?

Looks like normal cloth covered wire to me. But it can easily be tested by taking it outside and holding a lighter under it. If it burns, it's not asbestos. Obviously take care not to breathe any fibres if it *is* asbestos, that's why you have to do it outside.

Thank you.  I do understand the operation of the switches.  What I am not getting is which wire goes where. Four coming from the switch and two on the transformer. Only four at the base of the lamp, two in two out. See new photo.  Thanks again.
tj

Typical preheat fixture wiring would resemble the attached diagram.  Here the switch is connected to the hot lead (A) and one of the ballast leads (B).  However, you don't have a starter, so the starter hooked up to leads C and D goes away.  Instead, C and D will be connected to the other terminals on the switch.

What I'm not sure about is which two terminals on the switch are for continuous power and which are for starting.  Somebody else might know that, or you can test continuity yourself.  The two with continuity when pressing and holding red only are for starting and would be connected to C and D.
 

I'm a little paranoid about asbestos because a light which I have has what I thought was regular cloth wiring but turned out to be asbestos.

Thank you.  I'll see if I can sort it out with your info.  I will let you know.
tj