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ANTIQUES PEEK by Jessica Kosinski
ANTIQUES PEEK

Workin’ On The Railroad

hen you think of the history of rail- “railroad grade” watches. That term simply escapement. They also had to be made in
roads and railroad collectibles, you meant watches that were approved for use by America, as did the watches used on most
Wmight picture toy trains first. railroad employees working for certain lines. American railways of the period. However,
Alternatively, your mind might go straight to Knowing those standards and when they were exceptions like the Longines Ref T905 model
other collectibles, such as railroad lanterns. adopted or changed can help you when you were also approved by some American
Station or track signs and dining car items may are trying to collect railroad watches and fobs. railroads around that time.
also come to mind. What you might not think For instance, beginning in 1930 Santa Fe
of is a small item that was commonplace for Railway watches had to have double-roller Dial Variations (Function Versus Form)
most railroad workers in the early days of When collecting railroad watches, especial-
North American railroads. That item is the ly those used in North America, the dials
pocket watch. Let’s take a peek at railroad grade (faces) of the watches can tell you a lot about
pocket watch history and collection habits. when the timepieces were used. The earliest
dials were meant to be more functional than
Keeping Time (or Not) on Early Railroads visually pleasing. However, achieving that
Railroad travel has always necessitated time functionality was sometimes easier said than
keeping. Passengers and railroad workers alike done. For example, the Ferguson Dial patent-
always wanted to know when trains would ed in 1908 was notorious for being difficult to
arrive or leave. As a result, train conductors, read accurately, despite having large black
porters, and other workers typically had numbers on the outer ring. The Canadian
watches. However, those watches were not Dial and Montgomery (Monty) Safety Dial
initially standardized or distributed by rail- were more widely preferred.
roads. As a result, the accuracy of the different
timepieces varied greatly. Longines Express Monarch Canadian Common RR Pocket Watches to Collect
Another important variation was the dif- railroad pocket watch, 1901 The watches used both prior to and after
ference in local time. Even the most accurate the implementation of railroad timekeeping
timepiece of the period was useless when local standards varied quite a bit. If you want to
time between cities was different. In many collect them, you have many options.
early cases some inaccuracy was fine because a However, some are more common and easy to
railroad line might not be used by more than find than others. Some examples of more
one train. However, as more railroad lines common versions to collect include:
became multi-train lines, timing inaccuracies • The Ball “20th Century Model”
became dangerous and, in some cases, deadly. • The Waltham “Crescent”
That problem was addressed in 1883 when • The Hamilton “992”
600 different railroads began using the same • The Illinois “Bunn Special”
defined time zones to track the movements of
their trains. The Significance of Railroad Watch Fobs
The word “fob” comes from the German
The Kipton/Elyria, Ohio Tragedy of 1891 1928 Illinois Bunn Special Type III word “fuppe” which is a small watch.
On April 18, 1891, a tragic railroad colli- 60-hour Railroad Pocket watch However, a fob is actually a chain or ribbon of
sion took place in Elyria, Ohio, near a station selling on Etsy for $750 some sort that goes from a person’s pocket to
called Kipton Station. The tragedy occurred the watch itself.
when the conductor of the Toledo Express did Watch fobs have had a significant place
not pull onto a sidetrack at the appointed time in railroad history, and are now prized
to allow the fast mail train to pass it. That is collectibles, just like railroad pocket watches
because the conductor’s timepiece was not themselves. Although watch fobs in general
keeping the proper time. That tragedy killed were often signs of style or status, railroad
several railroad workers and could have been watch fobs were somewhat different. Often,
prevented by proper timekeeping. specific lines issued watch fobs advertising the
lines themselves. In fact, watch fobs became
Sweeping Timekeeping Reforms such common advertising materials for rail-
Immediately after the Kipton/Elyria roads that they were sometimes given away as
incident, a jeweler named Webster Clay Ball promotional materials.
was given the task of creating an inspection
system for watches used by railroad workers. Collecting RR-Grade Watches and Fobs
Two years later, in 1893, a standardized list of To collect railroad grade pocket watches
traits any railroad workers’ timepieces had to and fobs today, you really need to understand
have was created. Among those requirements railroad history. You must have an under-
included “adjusting to a minimum of five standing of when certain standards were put
positions” and being“open face.” into place on certain railroad lines. That is the
only way to know if a watch was truly “rail-
Railroad-Specific Standards to Note road grade” when it was produced. The best
When Collecting Rare Hamilton railroad Conductor pocket watch option is to research railroad pocket watches
As time passed, certain railroads adopted Chicago Union Station fob selling for online and reference accurate guides when
specific standards for what were known as $10,000 on eBay assessing the watches you come across.
34 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles