A Waltham model 1892 I bought yesterday is marked S.A.L. Extra Special. It is a Crescent St 21 jewel serial number 7018015. Does the S.A.L. stand for Seaboard Air Line? I have not been able to find anything on this marking in any of my books.

According to the Waltham database this serial number indicates a model 92 Vanguard 21J PS.


Start: 1/1/1896 End: 5/31/1899
First: 7018001 Last: 7018020
Model: 1892 Name: Vanguard
Material: P Grade: Vanguard, NL
Size: 18 Size: 18
Plate: FP Plate: NL
Jewelling: 21 Jewels: 21
Balance: Ex Bal: Pat. Reg. - Breg. HS
Style: OF
Style:

OF

Comment: nameless / OF / nickel / Breg / PS / Adj
Source: JT
Date:

12/18/2002

SAL sounds like it's from the Seaboard Air Line to me, I never seen one, it would be great if you could post some pictures.

Larry

Here is a picture, I have not cleaned it yet. Are Crescent st. and Vanguard the same in the Waltham database?

I have seen many Waltham 1892 railroad marked movements, CPR, CRTS, D.& R.G. Special, Pennsylvania Special, Rio Grande Western, Railroader, Roadmaster, to name a few this the first Seaboard Air Line I have seen, you have a very unique watch there. How is the dial marked?

Larry

Mark, Vanguard and Crescent St. are not the same in the Waltham database. Waltham mixed grades in serial number runs and these are often not separated out. Here is a link to an excellent web page dealing only with the model 92. The page I have linked to discusses the serial number block 7018001-600 that your watch falls into and states the records indicate that this is a run of Vanguards with several other grades included. Since the author says that no Crescent Streets have been reported from this run, I'm sure he would be very interested in your example.

Link Model 92 21J Crescent St.

Mark I doubt it is an airline watch. It was more likely St. Lawrence Atlantic Line or something like that. The watch was made before the Wright brothers and is inscribed on the plate. Probably a private label but I think it unlikely that it is airline.

Deacon there was a rail company called the Seaboard Air Line that serviced the range of Florida up into the Carolinas and Georgia.

Through mergers and acquisitions I think it ended up being part of the CSX system. I think SAL joined with ACL Atlantic Coast line before it ended up as one of the origins for the CSX system.

The old Seaboard Air Line runs through town here. The face seems to be something standard from Waltham although this is the first one I have in this style.

That is the infamous Waltham Railroad dial. Combined with the engraved movement makes this combination very extraordinary. Excellent find!

I have a Waltham electric clock that has, (PCA The Capitol Airline) on the dial.

In the days before air travel, "air line" was a common term for the shortest distance between two points: a straight line drawn through the air (or on a map), ignoring natural obstacles. Hence, a number of 19th century railroads used air line in their titles to suggest that their routes were shorter than those of competing roads.

This "SAL" watch is indeed Extra Special as inscribed on its plates [ even though it's not actually a "special" as all of the Vanguards and Crescent St's that were special were marked "ruby" jewels ], it is rich in history and is a private labeled watch that a jeweler decided to order marked "S.A.L. Extra Special" and this watch was taken from the Waltham inventory of Crescent Street grade mvmts. The radial styled Waltham dial is a nice accessory to the watch. Very nice.

The Seaboard's history is complex to say the least and it has it's roots all the way back to 1832.

The railroads' prosperous operations of the 1850s, hauling passengers as well as valuable cargo of cotton, tobacco and produce from the Piedmont to the tidewater port of Portsmouth, were interrupted by the Civil War, during which bridges and tracks of both railroads were destroyed at various times by Union or Confederate troops.

Prosperity returned after the war, with the efficiently managed Seaboard Road showing a profit even during the Panic of 1873, and paying stockholders an annual dividend of 8 percent for many years. In 1871, the Raleigh and Gaston acquired the Raleigh and Augusta Air-Line Railroad, which, however, reached only to Hamlet, North Carolina. When the R&G and its subsidiary fell into financial straits in 1873, the Seaboard's president, John M. Robinson, acquired financial control of them, becoming president of all three railroads in 1875.

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad whose corporate existence extended from April 14, 1900 until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. The company was headquartered in Portsmouth, Virginia, until 1958, when its main offices were relocated to Richmond, Virginia.

At the end of 1925 SAL operated 3929 miles of road, not including its flock of subsidiaries; at the end of 1960 it reported 4135 miles. The main line ran from Richmond via Raleigh, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida, a major interchange point for passenger trains bringing travelers to the Sunshine State. From Jacksonville, Seaboard rails continued to Tampa, St. Petersburg, West Palm Beach and Miami.

Other important Seaboard routes included a line from Jacksonville via Tallahassee to a connection with the L&N at Chattahoochee, Florida, for through service to New Orleans; a line to Atlanta, Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama, connecting with the main line at Hamlet, North Carolina; and a line from the main at Norlina, North Carolina to Portsmouth, Virginia, the earliest route of what became the Seaboard.

In the first half of the 20th century Seaboard, along with its main competitors Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, Florida East Coast Railway and Southern Railway, contributed greatly to the economic development of the Southeastern United States, and particularly to that of Florida. It brought vacationers to Florida from the Northeast and carried southern timber, minerals and produce, especially Florida citrus crops, to the northern states.

MODERN HISTORY & MERGERS;

The Seaboard Coast Line emerged on July 1, 1967 following the merger of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. The combined system totaled 9,809 miles (15,786 km), the eighth largest in the United States at the time. The railroad had $1.2 billion in assets and revenue with a 54% market share of rail service in the Southeast, facing competition primarily from the Southern.

Prior to the creation of Amtrak on May 1, 1971 the Seaboard Coast Line provided passenger service over much of its system, including local passenger trains on some lines. Local trains ended when the Amtrak era began. Although several named passenger trains survived through the Amtrak era, many were renamed or combined with other services.

The first expansion for the Seaboard Coast Line came in 1969 with the acquisition of the Piedmont and Northern Railway, which operated about 128 miles (206 km) in North and South Carolina. Later the SCL would gain control of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the Durham and Southern Railway.

On November 1, 1980 CSX Corporation was created as a holding company for the Family Lines and Chessie System Railroad. In 1983 CSX combined the Family Lines System units as the Seaboard System Railroad and later became CSX Transportation when the former Chessie units merged with the Seaboard in December 1986.

Effective January 1, 1983 the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad became Seaboard System Railroad after a merger with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and Clinchfield Railroad. For some years prior to this, the SCL and L&N had been under the common ownership of a holding company, Seaboard Coast Line Industries (SCLI), the company's railroad subsidiaries being collectively known as the Family Lines System which consisted of the L&N, SCL, Clinchfield and West Point Routes. During this time, the railroads adopted the same paint schemes but continued to operate as separate railroads.


NOTABLE SCL SERVICES;

"Juice Train" is the popular name for famous unit trains of Tropicana fresh orange juice operated by railroads in the United States. On June 7, 1970, beginning on Seaboard Coast Line railroad, a mile-long Tropicana Juice Train train began carrying one million gallons of juice with one weekly round-trip from Bradenton, Florida to Kearny, New Jersey, in the New York City area. The trip spanned 1,250 miles (2,010 km) one way, and the 60 car train was the equivalent of 250 trucks.

Today operated by SCL successor CSX Transportation, CSX Juice Trains have been the focus of efficiency studies and awards as examples of how modern rail transportation can compete successfully against trucking and other modes to carry perishable products.

The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a former Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually the railroad was merged with its affiliate lines to create the Seaboard System in 1983.

At the end of 1970 SCL operated 9230 miles of railroad, not including A&WP-Clinchfield-CN&L-GM-Georgia-L&N-Carrollton; that year it reported 31293 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 512 million passenger-miles.


MOTIVE POWER;

Immediately following the 1967 merger, the newly created SCL network had 1,232 locomotives. The vast majority of the ACL roster contained EMD locomotives, while the SAL rostered Baldwin and ALCO diesels in addition to EMD builds. Both railroads had purchased new freight locomotives in the 5 years leading up to the merger. Among the first new locomotives purchased by the Seaboard Coast Line were 28 GE U33B locomotives, acquired in 1967 and 1968. These were followed by 108 GE U36B locomotives between 1970 and 1972. From EMD, SCL purchased SD45 locomotives in 1968, with more to follow in 1971. SD45-2 locomotives were added in 1974. GP40 and GP40-2 locomotives were added to the fleet between 1968 and 1972 for use on through freights and other high priority freight trains.

SCL supplemented its local freight units with orders of GE U18B and EMD GP38 locomotives. Some U18B models contained a shorter, and therefore lighter, fuel tank which proved ideal for light density lines. Most units of this type were assigned to the Carolinas. However, in 1978 the SCL decided not to purchase any more locomotives for local service on secondary mainlines and branchlines, instead aging GP7, GP9, and GP18 locomotives would be rebuilt into GP 16 models at the Uceta shops.

In the years leading up to the creation of the Seaboard System in 1983, SCL began acquiring the next generation of locomotives from EMD and GE. These orders included GE B23-7 locomotives in 1978 and 1980, including the GE BQ23-7 variant, of which only 10 were built and all belonged to SCL. EMD GP38-2 units were added in 1979 and 1980, and 5 EMD GP40-2 locomotives also delivered in 1980. Six axle GE C30-7 and EMD SD40-2 units were added to the roster between 1979 and 1980.


DIVISIONS;

Jacksonville
Tampa
Waycross
Florence
Rocky Mount
Savannah
Raleigh
CN&L
GM Railroad


regards,
bb

My thanks to Buster and Claude! I thought there was an Atlantic coast line but never heard of Seaboard Air Line. Is that the line that the developer of Palm Beach Florida had some interest in to carry wealthy people to Florida? The dial Mark has is my favorite Waltham dial and I think one of the easiest to read dials, sometimes the 5 minute numerals are in red. It alone is a valuable item. Buster there was a railroad that ran between Atlantic Iowa and Red Oak Iowa and further, that went behind our farm and I never knew what its full name was, my grandfather just called it the Atlantic line.

No, Richard. That was the Florida East Coast Railroad....the 'Flagler Line'.

Regard! Mark

I have seen that dial with black seconds, red seconds and one version (called the Canadian Roadmaster dial) with the no seconds. It looks like the 13-24 afternoon numbers pushed the seconds off the dial. IMHO, any of the three are the most handsome of dials, bar none.

it was worth 12.00 just to read all of this and see these pictures. Love it!! One of a kind perhaps? is that not the best to find!!

Really nice rare Crescent St., Mark!I wanted to say that a year or so ago, I saw a similar private label Crescent St. for sale on a dealer web site for big bucks.That one was marked "R.J. Riles, Jacksonville, Fla"., and also Crescent St., but that one had the grade name in fancy script like on the 1883 model Crescent St.'s, instead of Old English like yours.Its hard to tell from the picture, but maybe yours has a different damaskeen pattern than a regular one? The only thing better than a '92 model Waltham is a special marked '92 model!Like Andy said, This kind of stuff is well worth the price of admission and then some!Thank you for showing it.Regards, Ted.

Mark, thanks for sharing the picture of the Railroader dial on your Seaboard Air Line Special Waltham 1892, this makes your watch a real winning combination to me. Here is a variation on a Waltham Model 1883 Santa Fe, some Model 1892, had this dial.
Here is one from Ehrhardt's Waltham catalog

Lorne that dial had variations one was called the railroader, and seen with the 12 hour Arabic numerals 16 size dial called the "Railroader" on a model 1888 Railroader movement Waltham movement. I've also seen these dials on 1892 Railroader movements, and on Santa Fe dials. Here is my favorite Canadian version from my Model 1883 CPR

Waltham Model 1886 Railroader dial from Bill Megger's article The Railroad Marked Watch

Waltham Model 1888 16 size Railroader Movement from Bill Megger's article The Railroad Marked Watch

My thanks to Claude and Buster for educating the doubting deacon about the airline railroads, as he seemed very skeptical about my post on it. In Chicago, there was also the famous St. Charles Air Line in Chicago first chartered in 1856, a long time before anybody dreamed of air travel, bridge photo by Nathan Holth