Something railroad watch related

[Alan Walker]

It’s a clock, but it is directly related to railroad watches as it is a railroad STANDARD CLOCK. For someone who collects railroad watches, a STANDARD CLOCK would be the crown jewel of their collection.

The STANDARD CLOCK was key to railroad time service functions-it was the clock which all railroad employees governed by time service rules were required to compare their watches to when going on duty. There was no doubt about the time the STANDARD CLOCK displayed-it always was within 9 seconds of the correct time. Locations of STANDARD CLOCKS were given in all employee operating time tables and employees who did not have access to a STANDARD CLOCK were required to compare watches with an employee who had compared his watch to a STANDARD CLOCK.

I acquired this clock from a fellow Southern Arizona chapter member. When I first saw the clock, it was at the Sunshine Regional in Phoenix and it was not functional. The clock was recently received, the clock having been restored to working order in the meantime.

Not much is known about the background of this clock. All I know is that it came from a railroad facility in California and that it was last known to have been cleaned (prior to restoration) in May of 1957, based on the card affixed to the back of the case. Hanging it took a couple of attempts, seeing as I’m a watch guy-not a clock guy. I’ve set about adjusting the pendulum to get it to maintain correct time and am pretty close to done. Properly adjusted, it should maintain +/- 1 or 2 seconds from correct time. STANDARD CLOCKS were NEVER permitted to vary more than 9 seconds from correct time. Clocks that failed that requirement were immediately taken out of service until repaired. If the clock could not be replaced immediately, a canvas bag would be used to cover it.

 

[thesnark17]

That is a beautiful clock! Who was the manufacturer?

 

[musicguy]

For someone who collects railroad watches, a STANDARD CLOCK would be the crown jewel of their collection.

Maybe for some Standard Watch collectors.

I would take this one(or any of my other ones, I like them all the same)


I'm not a clock collector, but the Standard Clocks are very nice.
My son did buy this one at a Mart 2 years ago, but I highly doubt it's a Standard clock.






Rob

 

[Alan Walker]

This clock was made by the Self Winding Clock Company of New York and comes in at the lower end of railroad standard clocks. They typically sell for $500 to $1,000 in good running order. If there is documentation as to where the clock was used (which railroad, what location, etc.), the value of the clock increases.

When the Santa Fe abolished their Time Service department, they sold all of the clocks to the public. Many of those clocks were museum grade quality. When they sell, they go for thousands of dollars.

As for what to look for when identifying a standard clock, a good example will have a sign affixed to the case reading “STANDARD CLOCK”. It might also have the railroad name on the dial or on the service tag inside the case. Look up reference information as many railroads used commercially produced regulators as standard clocks, such as the Seth Thomas No. 2.

 

[1908]

This clock was made by the Self Winding Clock Company of New York and comes in at the lower end of railroad standard clocks. They typically sell for $500 to $1,000 in good running order. If there is documentation as to where the clock was used (which railroad, what location, etc.), the value of the clock increases.

When the Santa Fe abolished their Time Service department, they sold all of the clocks to the public. Many of those clocks were museum grade quality. When they sell, they go for thousands of dollars.

As for what to look for when identifying a standard clock, a good example will have a sign affixed to the case reading “STANDARD CLOCK”. It might also have the railroad name on the dial or on the service tag inside the case. Look up reference information as many railroads used commercially produced regulators as standard clocks, such as the Seth Thomas No. 2.

Very interesting and nice clocks. They remain amazing time pieces and so accurate even to this day.

Stephen

 

[darrahg]

I believe Hamilton used this display to advertise their watches.

 

[Rhett Lucke]

I believe Hamilton used this display to advertise their watches.

View attachment 757341

Wonderful advertising item. I’ve always thought these were attributed to Ball?

 

[darrahg]

Wonderful advertising item. I’ve always thought these were attributed to Ball?

Years ago I saw one with Hamilton on it but could have been used by others. Mine has nothing to ID it to a company.

 

[darrahg]

No company guessing here

 

[Kent]

...
As for what to look for when identifying a standard clock, a good example will have a sign affixed to the case reading “STANDARD CLOCK”. ...

For many roads, there should be a placard declaring how many seconds fast or slow the clock is from Standard Time. There was a person assigned to check each Standard Clock against the daily telegraph signal and note its deviation. On other roads, the clocks were corrected automatically, or manually, to that daily telegraph signal.

 

[Kent]

Here's another style of placard:



Also on page 6 of Santa Fe: How It Governed Its Timepieces Throughout the System, David M. Nicholson, Dougherty Press, Enid, OK, 1985:

"The program allowed ample opportunity to identify the minute and second so that operators at all telegraph offices could compare their time and know definitely how much they were from correct time. The operator on duty would placard the standard clock if it was less than nine seconds in error or set the clock if more than nine seconds in error."

 

[Alan Walker]

Kent,

Thanks for posting the signs. I’ve never seen one of those signs paired with a Self Winding Clock Company clock. I presume the reason was that those clocks generally were fitted with the synchronizer feature which negated any need for human intervention (other than connecting the clock to the telegraphic time circuit).

 

[Greg Frauenhoff]

RR watch related: