no diodes involved in anything 1956, most likely wires wrong at the connector where they come out of the column, or much less likely, a defective new switch - see the wiring diagram linked on your other post

Bill

Moved over to the Passing Lane

"When we tug a single thing in nature we find it attached to the rest of the world" John Muir
"When we tug a single thing on an old truck, we find it falls off" me
Some TF series details & TF heater pics & Rust-a-holics Unanimous parking lot