how much was this big sum? On Feb 15, 2008 9:11 PM, archer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Does anyone have an old railroad watch? I have my fathers; an Elgin. I > remember him having to take it in to a "certified" watchmaker periodically > to get its accuracy checked. It was running in 1939 when he retired from > the railroad but it doesn't run now. Watchmaker said it would have to be > disassembled so the dried oil could be cleaned out of the jewel bearings > and > that it would then be good as new. He wanted a big price to do it, so I > declined. Watchmaker said such watchs were common and not worth a great > deal as antiques. The case was gold plated and the movement was 21 jewel > IIRC. > Gerry > --------------------------------------------- > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Gary Hurst" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > you have heard the expression "on the ball?" webb c ball had a jewelery > > shop on cleveland where the time was wired in from the US Naval > > Observatory > > and displayed in the window. webb ball and those who came by his shop > in > > cleveland really were among the few in that age who could answer the > > question of whether anybody knows what time it is. > > > > webb really liked precision timekeepers. he'd buy very good movements > > from > > very solid makers and "hot rod" them in the shop. you could go into > > ball's > > shop and buy one of hte most accurate watches on the earth at the end of > > the > > 19th century. and then ball and his crew could keep it running like > that > > for you indefinitely. > > > > ball's watches really, really good and priced accordingly. the average > > man > > in the street had neither the means to afford such a timepiece nor the > > need > > for one, as he could live happily with a 15 second a day watch and > didn't > > need one that was tuned to 15 seconds a season. so what was ball to do? > > > > he went out telling eveyrone the story of how there was this terrible > > train > > crash caused by imprecise timekeeping and how a ball watch maintained at > > the > > ball shop was the way to solve this so it would never happen again. as > it > > says in wikipedia: > > > > In 1891 there was a collision between Lake Shore and Michigan Southern > > Railways at Kipton, Ohio <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kipton%2C_Ohio> > > which > > occurred because an engineer <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer>'s > > watch > > had stopped. The railroad officials commissioned Webb C. Ball as their > > Chief > > Time Inspector, in order to establish precision standards and a reliable > > timepiece inspection system for Railroad > > chronometers<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_chronometers> > > . > > He established strict guidelines for the manufacturing of sturdy, > reliable > > precision timepieces, including resistance to magnetism, reliability of > > time > > keeping in 5 positions, > > isochronism< > http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Isochronism&action=edit>, > > power reserve <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_reserve> and dial > > arrangement, accompanied with record keeping of the reliability of the > > watch > > on each regular inspection > > > > the legendary railroad watch is established and the ball watch is king > of > > them all. only thing is, though, there never was such a crash. > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
