new to working on elevators, prints for a shepard

Just bought an old house to fix up and it has an old shepard elevator. I can get it to go up and down by manually holding in the contacts.it appears the switches do bring power to the contacts but doesnt draw them in on its own. I wish i could post a pic on here. I cant find a model number either.any help?

You should really find a local residential elevator repair company to look at it. They should also make sure all of the safeties operate properly for you while they are there.

Please for your safety and that of others get a professional elevator mechanic. If you push in the contactors the elevator will move regardless of doors being open, someone could get badly hurt or killed.