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New Clock…

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 8:04 pm
by awalker1829
As some of you know, I collect railroad grade pocket watches. Recently, I attended the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Sunshine Regional Mart in Phoenix. There were numerous sellers with all sorts of watches and clocks for sale. One of my fellow Southern Arizona chapter members was there with a clock that caught my attention.

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This clock is a railroad Standard Clock that was manufactured over a hundred years ago by the Self Winding Clock Company of New York. Standard Clocks were located at crew terminals on the railroad-their location was always listed in employee timetables. All railroad employees who were required to have railroad approved watches were required to compare time with the Standard Clock before going on duty. Standard Clocks were regulated daily to official Standard Time, which was transmitted from the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC.

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This clock is a self winding unit that is powered by a mainspring. The mainspring is wound once an hour by an electric motor powered by two 1.5 volt batteries. This type of clock could be connected to the Western Union telegraph network to be synchronized with Naval Observatory time. Mechanical Standard Clocks had signs attached that indicated how many seconds fast/slow the clock was running. Standard Clocks were permitted a maximum variance of nine seconds from Standard Time.

This clock came from a railroad facility in California and was fully restored by my friend. The job included replacement of all wiring. The clock hangs on my bedroom wall and lulls me to sleep with its ticking. The motor is pretty quiet-not loud enough to wake me. It’s a pretty cool find as these self winding clocks are very collectible. The clock does come with a winding key-its only purpose is to operate the latches that secure the bezel to the clock case.

Re: New Clock…

Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 1:18 am
by Junk Yard Dog
That is a very nice find. I have bought and sold many clocks over the years, but not one like this. :vcool: :vcool: :vcool:

Re: New Clock…

Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 8:01 am
by awalker1829
You might want to check out some videos on youtube about the Self Winding Clock Company of New York. There is a lot of information about these clocks and they are very interesting. This one does not have the auto-synch feature but it is dead accurate. I've been adjusting the pendulum length to get it as close to the WWV time (atomic clock) as possible. I made the last adjustment a couple of days ago and set it exactly to WWV time. I checked it this morning and it about half a second off. These clocks are very collectible and usually sell in the $800 range, so at $500 I got a deal.

Re: New Clock…

Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 8:53 am
by SA1911a1
That is a nice piece! When was it made?

Re: New Clock…

Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 3:21 pm
by Sonny
Nice clock..

This is my retirement clock. :D

Re: New Clock…

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 1:18 pm
by awalker1829
SA1911a1 wrote: Thu Apr 27, 2023 8:53 am That is a nice piece! When was it made?
Hard to tell. Records from the Self Winding Clock Company of New York have not survived, so dating the movement is problematic at best. This clock has a wooden case whereas later clocks had metal cases. This clock has the SWCC Type F movement, which was the most common movement used by the company.

As a railroad clock, it is possible that the Time Service department swapped out the movement when it was due for servicing. The clock has been significantly altered over the years. It is missing the two battery holders that would have held the two 1.5 volt dry cell batteries. The little plastic box contains the two D cell batteries that currently power the clock.

As you may have noticed, the second hand is bent. I ordered a replacement that is new old stock and will eventually replace it. I don’t want to mess with the clock as it is maintaining very good time. In three days, it’s gained one second over the WWV atomic clock.

Went by my watchmaker this morning to see if he’d made any progress on the pocket watches that are in for service/repair. He had my Howard Series 11 railroad chronometer ready for pickup. It just needed cleaning, oiling and timing. My Hamilton 936 is back together but has timing issues in various positions due to friction between the pivots and jeweled bearings. So he’s doing fine machining and polishing the pivots. My South Bend is requiring fine adjustment and work on the balance wheel to get its timing issues fixed.

Re: New Clock…

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 4:43 pm
by SA1911a1
I have a few pocket watches, nothing at all fancy, but I do lust after the nice antique ones I see in stores. I have learned that I can not carry a pocket watch because every time I try it, I end up laundering the things. Of course, at this point in my life, I only care what time it is if I have a doctor's appointment. I was never without a wrist watch since I was about 14 years old, but I rarely put one on anymore.

Re: New Clock…

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 6:27 pm
by ffuries
Military clock.....If you're a Veteran you know it's true...!

Re: New Clock…

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 6:58 pm
by tomaustin
Mike.....been there and done that.......

Re: New Clock…

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2023 9:41 am
by SA1911a1
ffuries wrote: Sat Apr 29, 2023 6:27 pm Military clock.....If you're a Veteran you know it's true...!
Really, run to stand in line to stand in line.

Re: New Clock…

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2023 12:40 pm
by ffuries
SA1911a1 wrote: Sun Apr 30, 2023 9:41 am
ffuries wrote: Sat Apr 29, 2023 6:27 pm Military clock.....If you're a Veteran you know it's true...!
Really, run to stand in line to stand in line.
Remember, if you show up when your appointment is scheduled, you're on-time, which means you're late, you must be there 15 minutes prior. Which means if you show up 15 minutes prior, you're on-time, which means you're still late.