Vintage Railroad Pocket Watches

By: Tiraton Athiwat

When you are in the market for the best vintage railroad pocket
watch available, something noteworthy is that they have only
every been manufactured in the USA, and have had particular
standards that had to be met. The size of the movement also
needs to be paid particular attention to. The size of the
watch's movement is determined by measuring the dial across the
centre and then through to the point where it is the narrowest.
The standards set by the railways meant that the watch was
required to meet size 18 or 15.227 mm precisely. A larger size
of 16 or 16.919 mm came into force in the 30's.

Additionally, the watches became open faced instead of enclosed
in attractive hinged cases, and they now used Arabic numerals
instead of the familiar Roman numerals. Every watch used a
minimum of 17 jewels in its movement. There were 5 positions
that each watch had to have the ability to be adjusted to, these
being face up, face down, crown up, crown down, and sideways. An
accurate time within 30 seconds of the week were expected of
each railroad pocket watch. They were also required to be able
to compensate for the temperature range of 34 degrees to 100
degrees Fahrenheit. These were mandatory and with these
standards and requirements, it meant that these particular
railroad vintage pocket watches were unsurpassed during the time
of their manufacture.

The railway industry went through an incredible growth spurt and
American watch manufacturers had to rise to meet the challenge
of making watches that had to be more and more accurate, and
they frequently surpassed even the standards and requirements of
the railroads. Keep in mind that during the 1800's, trains were
the not only the primary mode of transport, but they also
carried valuable goods for trade and industry. This was one of
the major reasons why typical conductor railroad watches, which
we now know as antique pocket watches, were crucial.

Punctuality, however, was not the only thing at stake. The
watches had to be accurate to ensure that no accidents happened.
Every day there were literally hundreds of trains to manage, and
they all had to keep exact times. If the precise time wasn't
kept, accidents could happen. For example, when tracks were
switched on a scheduled time, if times weren't on time, they
could collide, so precision was crucial.

One famous collision occurred in 1891 in Kipton, Ohio and was
due to the fact that the conductor's watch was late by a mere 4
minutes. This was the incident that prompted the government to
issue the standards for the railroad pocket watches. The first
company to comply with the requirements set by the railways was
the Waltham Watch Company, but these were very quickly followed
by all of the major watch making companies that we are familiar
with today. These include Illinois, Elgin and Hamilton. These
are the vintage pocket watch that frequently feature as many as
jewels and no less than 6 adjustable positions in substitute of
the recommended 5 that are most wanted after by collectors and
have the most value.

Article Source: https://www.collectibles-articles.com

Find collectible railroad pocket watches and more information at: www.railroadpocketwatches.net/

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