There was a discussion on this board a while back concerning railroad pocket watches. I have since acquired one with no manufacturer identity, and would appreciate any assistance in learning more about it. Please email me directly.

Thanks,

KES

rrm@texas.net

There is a book titled "American Pocket Watches" by Cooksey Shugart and Tom Engle that has nemorous photos of various pocket watch movements that can help you identify the origin and age of your watch. Most watches have the manufacturer's name on the dial though some very early ones didn't. Most American pocket watches have the manufacturers name engraved on the back of the movement though some watch companies engaged in contract manufacture and may have a different name engraved on the movement. Examples of this are Burlington Watch Company watches were made by Illinois Watch Company and Ball watches were made by various manufacturers including Hamilton, Waltham, and Howard.
Roger Mitchell
Master Mechanic
Fort Collins Municipal Railway

Fort Collins Municipal Railway home page
n0mcr@netzero.net

The book by Cooksey Shugart is a good starter. However, the section on railroad watches and time service leaves a bit to be desired. The earliest developments concerning railroad time service appeared in the 1830s and by the 1850s, the basic framework of railroad time service that we know today had become established though they were in no means uniform. Adoption of uniform standards that we know of didn't come about until after 1900 and the standards for watches evolved.

One of the more misleading factors of the section on railroad time service is the article concerning the wreck at Kipton, Ohio. One-Webster C. Ball was already an appointed general watch inspector for other railroads at least two years before the Kipton Wreck. Two-the information that the section on the Kipton wreck was taken from came from an interview with Webster C. Ball twenty years after the fact. Three-Ball was known to have a poor memory and the interview was apt to have errors.

Shugart's book has a number of errors that are widely known in the watch collecting community. It is a large work to publish the annual book and he is continually attempting to correct errors that are found. It's a good book for general information but for the serious collector or historian, there are better books out there that are lesser known.

awalker2002@comcast.net