I have a genuine railroad Accutron which I purchased from a genuine jeweler over 25 years ago. I set it every month or so; it has stayed within five seconds of correct time nearly always (when it doesn’t, I know it’s time for a new battery!).
My backup watch is a spring-wound Elgin wrist watch–not as accurate, so I only use it when the Accutron is out of service. The second-hand is on a small, separate dial. I purchased this watch from a Chicago pawnbroker soon after hiring out.
If that’s a B.W.Raymond, railroad approved wrist watch it’s worth a fortune. Early railroad wrist watches have come into their own as far as collecting is concerned. I saw a Ball wrist watch go for $415 on eBay recently.
Mitch
Thanks for letting me know, Mitch! It is, and I’ll take good care of it!
Interesting how much ($2,500) it would cost nowadays to produce a Hamilton RR watch. Of course, they weren’t inexpensive back in the old days either. Just think, they were even made in the USA!
…A lot of things were made well in the USA many years ago…How did we let it all get away from us…?? So sad. My personal opinion is we went out of our way in so many areas of the world to bring the countries out of the dark ages and much of it has turned around and bit us…!
In 1941 a 21 Jewel Hamilton railway special cost $75 retail. That was a chunk of dough back then. But just think of it. In order to work on the railroad one had to purchase a tiny precision machine that came from a jeweler that given the correct care would last your entire career. And then the entire career of your heirs.
In 1941 the dials were made of porcelain with the numerals engraved within. When the last Hamilton railway Special was issued forth in Lancaster, PA in 1969 everything was the same save the dial. They were made of melamine, a painted piece of steel that tended to crumble after a period of time. The retail price was $175.00.
We did make a lot of great things in the USA a long time ago. “What Trenton makes the world takes,” reads the sign over the river there. We had the will to make great things, the talent, and the will to spend the money for it. We had generations of people that passed their skills down to the next. We had beautiful trains. Magic streamliners that were a rolling city disguised as a first class hotel. But we went modern after WWII. We had to stay ahead of the Russians. We had to go into outer space. All conventions had to be discarded and we had to be skinny and young. Forever. Heffner told us how to live and his monthly comic book put a lot of false fantastical notions in peoples’ minds.
An evil Asian war, a major presidential scandel, the bankruptcy of the Penn Central and the Brady Bunch leading us by the nose through the fantasy land known as “Suburbia,” with all the new-speak we could invent washed all the quality away. Alas we’ve only fooled ourselves. And they say railfans live in a fantasy land.
Thanks for tuning in, kids!
MItch
The postings on this thread made me pull out my pocket watch I hired out with in March of '66. It is a Hamilton 992b,and I bought it at Merit Watch Co. in the Old P.E. building in downtown Los Angeles for $55.00. The owner of the store, Irv Noren, told me at the time it was manufactured in 1902, according to the serial number. Sure gld I have kept in good working order all these years. I just had it cleaned 2 months ago. Cost me 3 times what I paid for it.
Virlon
save your ticket…the P.E. will rise again.
Quartz movements are much, much more accurate than even the most expensive mechanical movements, but certainly don’t have the character. I have yet to encounter a quartz watch that can tick anything like a mechanical watch, which is part of the reason why I prefer mechanical watches. A quartz watch doesn’t have a moving balance wheel, shiny bridges, and bright red jewels showing when you take the back off. I also find mechanical watches easier to set, as the minute hand doesn’t jump halfway around the dial when you turn the stem a quarter turn, and there is actually some resistance on the stem.
By the way, a quartz watch may be more accurate, but, in some ways, a mechanical watch is more precise. The second hand on a quartz watch makes 60 individual movements each second, and the second hand on a mechanical watch moves at least 150 times each minute(2.5 bps). On some newer high-end watches, this has been upped to 270 times each second(4.5 bps). This means that it is possible, in theory, to read partial seconds on a mechanical watch, and only full seconds on a quartz watch.
If anyone wants to buy an inexpensive mechanical pocket watch, WalMart does sell a number of 17 jewel watches in open-faced, half-hunter, and hunter cases for around $30. They do have sweep second hands, which I don’t like(so I haven’t bought one), but otherwise look like pretty nice watches. They also are made in such a way that you can see the balance wheel and a couple of other wheels through the face, which is interesting. Just watch if you go to buy one, as they also sell nearly identical looking quartz watches for nearly the same price.
Perhaps the title of a recent biography of Vince Lombardi by David Maranis, “When Pride Still Mattered” says it all. The American railroad watch was the best in the world, but now we say “runs like a Swiss watch” and import our timepieces from the far east.
…We first got our most accurate time from the railroads. No one should dispute the fine jeweled precision of quality the railroad watches were…and those remaining still are. In one of my earlier posts I mentioned of modern watches that don’t even have a way to manually set them…All done by radio from a station in Colorado [on a daily basis}…and that time being regulated by an atomic clock supervised by our government. These watches {and clocks}, are accurate to a fraction of a second all the time…and one can’t get it much better than that if correct time is what a person is seeking.
When a new employee hired out on the railroad and was required to equip themselves with an accurate time piece there were a couple of options to making that $75 - $175 purchase. First, he might buy a used one from someone retiring from the railroad or who had upgraded their personal watch. Next, railroading was much more a family thing until the mid 1970s so they might borrow one from a relative who kept the older one around as a spare. Finally, all the jewelers who were authorized watch inspectors worked with the railroads through payroll deduction plans. Almost any employee could buy a watch on the installemnt plan with the jeweler in this manner. The interest was a lot cheaper than what MC and VISA charge now…
LOL…
Isn’t that the truth…
Virlon
save your ticket…the P.E. will rise again.
My Timex Indiglo keeps perfect time. I set it by http://nist.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5/java. When “putting off” at the call office, the young guys are amazed when I tell them to hit the tie-up button “Now”[:D]
…That web site indicates it’s accurate to “3.5” sec…
I found a New Haven pocket watch,that still works,at a “trade Days” weekend for $2! People just don’t know what they have.
I receaved a SPRR for a safety award. I’ve been wearing it for years. It’s a pulsar with 24 hour clock,day,date,and a dayglow face. It does not,however,have a light,which means I have to turn the light on everytime I look at it,because people on the extra board only work nights,weekends,and holidays!
Virlon,
Hamilton 992B s first appeared late in 1940. Before that there were the 992s with the “Elinvar” hair spring. Before that were the plain 992s. Give me the serial number and I’ll look it up for you.
Mitch
All these watch stories are great and one of the things that makes railroading so interesting. One of the enduring images of classic railroading is the engineer in his overalls and cap and conductor in his uniform standing on the platform with a steam racehorse simmering in the background while they compare watches before heading out with a crack passenger train. The best watch in my collection is an Illinois 23 jewel Bunn Special with a montgomery dial and engraved gold filled case. It must have been a gift or retirement presentation as it is in pristine condition. I also have a Hamilton 992 in a heavy silveroid case with a thick crystal that was a real working watch. It’s amazing how much engraving and polishing was done on the plates, bridges and gears of these watches, parts only a jeweler would see.
Have you checked what a Bunn is going for these days? Hang onto your hats (and your watches.)
Mitch
No, I haven’t checked watch prices for a long time. I found the Bunn about 10-12 years ago in an antique store and paid a pretty good price then. Since they sure ain’t making 'em anymore I imagine the price has risen considerably.