I’ve been wanting to get a railroad watch for some time. This Christmas my son gave me a waltham pocket watch. I looked up waltham pocket watches on google & a very interesting story on the manufacturing of these watches. The one I got stops intermittently, so I’ll be taking it to be cleaned & checked out & find out the date which can be determined from the serial number inside. Waltham was the largest mfg of these rr watches with Elgin being the second largest.
My question is, How many of you railroaders still use these pocket watches? Many of my old rr timetables give a list of watch & clock inspectors, Are they still used by the railroads?
After starting out with a Hamilton pocket watch and destroying it in short order, I have since used two railroad-approved wrist watches: an Elgin B. W. Raymond and a Bulova Accutron. The Elgin gets put into play when the Bulova needs a new battery.
I’m still required by rules to have my watch accurate within ten seconds (my own standard is five seconds–I know that it loses that much time in about a month, and will need resetting).
I’m wondering what the RR’s might think of 21th century watches that are completely accurate. I have two of them…having just acquired a new one as a Christmas present. Accuracy controlled by radio each night from the National bureau of time from Ft. Collins, Colorado and it may never need a battery as it is solar powered. Accuracy to a fraction of a second…all the time.
Our cell phone will change minutes within 2 or 3 seconds of an atomic controlled watch or clock. Same with the computer here. Time signals on TV or radio seem to be extremely close.
When I was breaking in as an Operator, I recall getting the time check over the telegraph wire at Noon EST, supposedly the signal came from the Naval Observatory. The Daylight operators responsibility was to see that the Standard Clock was ON TIME!
Gee Carl, we can be up to 30 seconds off out here. I haven’t been checked, but I know of others who have. It’s a relatively easy failure to get when they can’t find anything else. You’ld be surprised at how many don’t worry if their watches are within the standard deviation.
I still use a Hamilton 992b Railway Special. When it goes into the shop I have a Seiko “Railroad Approved” wrist watch. The Seiko is a lot more accurate, but I like the pocket watch better. The hardest thing about a pocket watch is finding someone who still works on them.
Now a days a watch only has to be in “good repair and reliable.” It also has to display hours, minutes and seconds. My cell phone wouldn’t qualify, it doesn’t show seconds.
I check my watch everyday before going to work. I have the NIST website on my home computer and their phone number in my cell for when I’m away from home. The company also has a couple of company phone lines to check the time. I’ve used them, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else do so.
You’re right, Jeff–I should reread my GCOR before I go crazy (I do check mine using the company numbers, though, and you’re absolutely right about seconds not being displayed on my phone).
on the ns its just a watch in good working order that displays time with a second hand. and numbers. they have started letting us use digital and as far as the time goes the standard clock is not on the same time as the computor its 2 differant times and about 3 minutes apart. and the only reason for a watch is for the time on movement onto the main after throwing a switch.otherwise not much use for a watch here except to see how long you been on duty
I too have a Seiko quartz wrist watch and it will run within 10 sec. a month of accuracy. And it’s 32 years old…has not been in use all the time as I change off to other watches. {Just an interest of mine}. Correct time can be picked up at Coordinated Universal Time tone on radio…As for cell phones and time…doubt if any have sec. displayed.
I don’t know of any cell phones off hand that have a second hand…but yes, railroad watches are supposed to have a second or sweep hand. When timetable authority reigned supreme, it was incumbant that all watches were syncronized all over the railroad. Today’s rules seem to be more relaxed. A train would have to leave a station at the stroke or the minute scheduled, today, anytime from the stroke to fiftynine seconds later fits the defined minute.
Although I am not a railroader I do have the Sieko “Railroad Approved” model because it is accurate and nice looking and not that expensive: less that $300. Usually you have to ask your jeweler to order the watch as it is in the Sieko catalogue but not often displayed.
Modelcar: If you have noticed the TV stations on DTV have a 2-1/2 second delay because of the internal computer processing of the signal for DTV. That will kill using TV stations for getting a time hack.
That’s a point well taken. When I suggested {back a few posts}, of getting an accurate tone on radio / TV, I should have said using short wave radio to do so. {That is to pick up WWV}. Coordiniated Universal Time tone. But I suppose a Broadcast Band of radio…AM, FM, etc…still should display the accurate tone signal. {When I say accurate, I mean readily available on commerical radio} The correction for Atomic watches / clocks is broadcast from the Ft. Collins {Colorado}, government time keeping site several times starting at midnight, and thru the night, etc.
I like the US Naval Observatory Time - it’ll get you pretty close.
A system I use at work uses GPS for its time source, and feeds that to the entire system. That’s pretty common nowadays.
I use an inexpensive pocket watch on the railroad - it seems to be accurate and is mostly for show anyhow. A quick check of the cell phone confirms accuracy within a minute. Aside from recording departures and arrivals for the conductors report, (and leaving somewhere near on time), exact time isn’t crucial to us.
I had one of those hummers. Hated it. Never could figure out how they ever got a “railroad approved” rating as many times when I would throw a switch, it would stop working.
My Timex “Indiglo” keeps excellent time and lights up in the dark to check a test mile.
From reading all comments about time…Lots of variations of “likes” as to where the “correct” time really is. Guess {from a timepiece interest}, it is difficult to have a more “correct time” than the current Atomic clock controlled accuracy, watch or clock…[That is, that’s commerically available}
If looking for a public, commercial standard, up to the minute not second, today, then you must turn to your cell phone as the entire cell system is based on the same time. The Atomic Clock is most accurate, but few have access to or know about it; same for U.S. Observertory radio transmissions. The old system for both broadcasting stations and railroads was the daily Western Union noon EST setting tied to the Navel Observatory but both industries have strayed away from having to have split second timing. Incidently if you listen to commercial radio, although the on the hour time tones are supposedly set to Obervatory times, they may not actually be. In fact, one radio network I know has the tone recorded with the news sounder! I won’t menton the network but it is one that has an “s” in its name along with the “b” and the “c”.