This has probably been asked & answered 1000 times but if so I can't find it.

I have seen it mentioned that one of the railroad watch regulations was that no private label markings could be used.

What was the purpose of such a regulation & most of all if that was in fact a regulation then why were Ball watches allowed? From my limited knowledge about such things I never could really see the difference between a Ball watch & another jewelers private label. Since both were made by a watch manufacturing company to order for a private jeweler why could his be used & not the other.

Anyway, I have always wondered about that. Is it because his business was responsible for the standards used by so many railroads & he was trying to limit his competition?

Tom

Well that's a very well thought out topic Tom indeedy

Some will say that the likes of Ball, Santa Fe & Burlington were watch companies and not private labels. Santa Fe & Burlington were thinly veiled mail order companies that were but a front for Illinois to market their watches Ball got by it possibly by saying that the watches were adjusted by them when received to their standards All that I know they did was possibly cased and dialed the watches at their location I don't believe anyone can prove otherwise

This brings up many other questions about "railroad approved" watches such as dates, certain wordings, then in later years other requirements that seem to leave prior approved wordings behind

Very interesting and as far as certainty, little documentation to go by other than Meggar's and certain Superintendent's Bulletin's for certain RR's and Divisions

Q&A: Your thought's members

regards,
bb

I think the early 20th Century RR Regs required as "Manufacturer" that the Watch Co. named on the movement accepted full responsibility for all certified markings on all RR Grade movements including the number of Jewels, the number of Adjustments, and the overall accuracy (as delivered) of that movement.

The casing of the movements had little to do with the qualification of the movement except where the case was also signed "Cased and Timed By XXX Watch Co.

Ball would qualify in all these matters, but I have no idea whatsoever about Burlington W. Co.

I htink that Santa Fe was somehow tied up to Montogomery at least at the beginning, and I think that Montgomery actually worked for Santa Fe RR.

I would bet that somewhere there was a definition for what they considered "Private Label", I would think just like today when you set a regulation to be followed you have to define certain words otherwise people would find a way around it.

I agree I don't think the watch cases had anything to do with it, my question is what did they consider private label & is that their term or one that we have added in todays terms.

I don't think H.S. Montgomery had anything to do with the Santa Fe Watch Company Buster mentioned, that was a part of the Illinois Watch Company. If I remember correctly H. S. Montgomery was a watchmaker/jeweler, he went into business with a Frank S. Thompson. The AT&SF Railroad agreed to hire Montgomery as their general watch inspector. Montgomery & Thomas contracted to buy watches from the American Waltham Watch Co. and had their watches marked "Santa Fe Route" & they were allowed to sell those watches for a time to the employees of the AT&SF.

I believe all of that took place before the ban on private label watches but if not wouldn't their Santa Fe Route be considered a private label.

I guess I need to try to locate the actual regulations from the railroads at to private labels.

Tom

I certainly agree, private label definitions are a bit "fuzzy/hazy" that I have seen. Sort of like these "private label's" that the IC RR outlawed in 1913

"Pictures of sweethearts, wives or chubby-faced youngsters at home no longer will adorn the crystals of watches used by engineers, conductors and other employees of the operating department of the Illinois Central Railroad as a result of a new rule made by the management...
If he (the engineer) sees on the crystal the picture of his wife, who may have run away with another man, it is reasonable presume that his thoughts will center on her and the despoiler of his home rather than on the approaching train."

Holy Guacamole

regards,
bb

If you look in the book by Bill Meggers. about illinois Santa Fe Special, out of the 15 different models they sold only three were Rail Road Grade. Rail road grade does not mean Rail Road Approved. The other Santa Fe was made by Waltham. And was part of the At& Sf.

Yeah, the Santa Fe Route Walthams are the ones that were Montgomery & Thomas for the AT&SF.

I would be interested if anyone has the actual regulations for one of the railroads that would not allow private label watches.

Don't get me wrong, I am trying to make a private label into something it isn't. I have just always wondered about the statement & why then were Ball watches allowed. It would be nice to see something original to a railroad company or Time Service. You know how a story gets repeated over & over and changes a little each time. So I am curious about what a railroad company actually said about private labels.

In my searching for an answer I see where people repeat the same statement but have yet to find the actual paper work.

Thanks again.

Tom

I have honestly thought it was all because Webb C. Ball, being the head time inspector of the United States rail systems, created a loop hole that allowed his watches to be kept in the 'railroad approved' column, and all competetors private labels to be excluded.

Remember, he was the one who pushed the adoption of 16s watches for railroad use, publishing over and over again how 18s watches were 'wood burners', and it was not due to problems with the time keeping of the 18s. It was to up his sales of 16s. It wasn't long before the 18s watch was outlawed or grandfathered by the railroads based on HIS official recommendation, and not due to any mechanical deficiencies of the 18s watch.

Nothing more than business angles on the part of Mr. Ball.

Don't get me wrong, I admire Mr. Ball for his accomplishments in getting time standards in place on American railroads and the saving of lives. His product was absolutely top drawer.....but I also believe he was a VERY savy businessman with an eye on the bottomline at all times, no matter WHAT it took to keep him on top.

He had been handed a big stick to swing, and he swung it every chance he got it if meant protecting/promoting his trademark.

Regards! Mark

Tom, see if this helps any.
Copied from the Wiki web site:

Railroad Time Service

Railroad time service is the system within which railroaders involved in the operation of trains were ensured of having the correct time - Standard Time. This was because train movement was based upon time schedules and the actions of the railroaders were defined in relationship to the schedules and the deviation of train movements from the schedules.

Safety

Railroad time service had little or nothing to do with getting passengers to their destinations on time (although that was a side benefit). It was all about Safety. With train movements defined by scheduled time, and with employe (correct spelling, used in many older railroad documents) actions linked, by operating rules, to the scheduled time and the amount of deviation from scheduled time, its obvious that all employes involved with the movements of trains must know the correct (standard) time. The emphasis on safety had been long advertised by the watch companies, as shown in these Waltham, Rockford and Dueber-Hampden ads. The view of the railroad watch (standard watch) as a safety appliance is perhaps best exemplified by an advertising card posted by Jeff Hess. The means to accomplish that end was a time service system that ensured the distribution of standard time and ensured that the Employes' Watches would be able to keep it.

Beginnings

Time service rules started appearing almost as soon as trains began running to a time schedule. The earliest actions and rules that have come down to us are listed below.

1834

This early account shows the introduction of standard time on one of the earliest railroads in the U.S.:
In May 1834 the chief engineer of the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company reported difficulty in attaining regularity in the arrival and departure times of passenger trains running between Charleston and Hamburg, 136 miles away. The problem on this, the longest railway in the world (at that time), was caused by "... the want of a uniform standard of time at the different [station] points." It was resolved "... by placing clocks (at the six stations) ... which being well-regulated and readily accessible to the Engineer and Agent, will enable them to regulate their movements on the road with great accuracy."
"Annual Report of the Directors of the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, May 6, 1834, as reprinted in "The Adoption of Standard Time," Ian R. Bartky, Technology And Culture, Vol. 30, No. 1, January 1989, pp. 27-8.

1849

This rule put standard watches into the hands of the railroaders who needed them. It was published at a time before the American watch industry existed. Watches had to be imported from Europe, especially England, and were very expensive.
"Each engineer will be furnished with a watch which shall be regulated by the Station Agent at the commencement of each trip, and must be deposited with him when the engine returns. If not returned in as good order as it was received, the Engineer must pay the expense of repairs."
"Conductors furnished their own watches. ... [The Conductor] will also see that the Engineer has the correct time at starting ..."
"Rules for Passenger Engine Men, "Rules and Regulations for the Government of the Transportation Department of the Pennsylvania Rail Road, 1849, reprinted in "Railroad Timekeepers," Ian R. Bartky, NAWCC Bulletin No. 262, October, 1989, pg. 401, and "Running on Time," Ian R. Bartky, Railroad History No. 159, Autumn, 1988, pp. 23-4.

1853

By these two rules, the railroad took steps to ensure that their conductors had watches that met the railroad's requirements for accuracy and reliability, and provided for certified loaner watches to be used by the conductors while their watches are being repaired. Almost all watches were still being imported and were still very expensive. It is very possible that watches discussed in these rules were issued to the conductors by the railroad.
7. Conductors will submit their watches to Bond & Sons, 17 Congress street, Boston, for examination, and procure from them a certificate of reliability, which will be handed to the Superintendent.

8. Conductors will report to Messrs Bond any irregularity in the movements of their watches, and they will clean, repair and regulate them, at the expense of the Corporation, furnishing Conductors with reliable watches in the interim.
Boston & Providence Railroad, Standard Time, August 31, 1853, Reproduced in: Selling The True Time, Nineteenth-Century Timekeeping in America, Ian R. Bartky, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 2000, pg.29

1857

Here, the railroad addressed the source and distribution of standard time.
"Standard Time - 1. The Standard time of the Road is the clock in the Ticket Office at Adrian. Conductors and Engineers must carry a watch, which must be compared and regulated daily by the standard. Engineers and Conductors West of White Pigeon will compare their time daily with those running East of White Pigeon. Station Agents, Track Master, etc., will compare and receive the time from Conductors."
Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad, General Rules and Regulations, September 20, 1857, reproduced in , The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, David McLellan and Bill Warrick, Transportation Trails, Polo, IL, 1989, Pg 29.

Time Service Programs Are Still in Effect

Modern communications and Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) have greatly reduced the need for railroaders to carry an expensive watch. Today, most modest quartz watches will keep time as well as, or better than, the typical mechanical standard watch. And, the dictates of efficient business management caused the demise of extensive and expensive watch inspection programs that were no longer needed. Some railroads still required standard watches in the Fairly Recent Past, and may still require them today, but most have reduced their rules down to something similar to this timetable note:
"The General Code of Operating Rules, effective October
25, 1985, is supplemented, modified or amended as follows ... Rule 2 supplemented by adding: While on duty, employes governed by the General Code of Operating Rules, except those employed in an office where a standard clock is located, must have and use a reliable watch capable of indicating time in hours, minutes and seconds."
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Co., Eastern Region, Texas Division, Timetable No. 1, May 15, 1988. (Courtesy John Scott)
Comparing this to Standard Time rule No. 2 in the NYC 1956 Rules of the Operating Department, it can be seen that the phrase "... railroad grade watch, for which there must be a prescribed certificate on file with the railroad." no longer exists.

In mort recent times, there are the NORAC Operating Rules (Northeast Operating Rules Advisory Committee). Railroads using these rules (members) include:
Amtrak
Former Delaware & Hudson, now owned by Canadian Pacific
CSX
Conrail
Norfolk Southern
Guilford
New York, Susquehanna & Western
NJ Transit
Indiana Harbor Belt
In the Seventh Edition, Effective January 17, 2000 is:
"2. Standard Time, Standard Clocks
Standard Time will apply, and standard clocks must indicate the correct time. The employee assigned to check clocks at a location must set clocks to the correct time, if necessary, once each day the office is open.

3. Correct Time
Employees whose duties are affected by the Timetable must use a reliable watch. Before starting each tour of duty they must set their watch with a standard clock.

If they do not have access to a standard clock, they must compare watches with another employee who has determined the correct time."

Uniform Time Service Rules

There have never been a uniform set of time service rules that were followed by all of the railroads. Each railroad set it's own rules to meet its own needs. Since the same principles were involved, the rules were similar from railroad to railroad, but there were some important differences. One glaring example is that it is widely believed that, in the post 1906-1908 era, watches had to have been adjusted to 5 positions in order to have been accepted into service, as seen at the bottom of section 4 of the April 1, 1915 New York Central Rules. However, in 1921, the Santa Fe Railway was only requiring that watches be adjusted to three positions.

Additionally, even on the same railroad the rules constantly evolved from the earliest days to the present time. Continuing the example of the number of positions to which a watch must have been adjusted, it was reported that on the Santa Fe in 1938, watches had to be adjusted to five positions to enter service (Santa Fe watch inspector David M. Nicholson, on page 19 of his book Santa Fe: How It Governed Its Timepieces Throughout the System, see references, below).

Standard Timekeepers

Each railroad designated a source of time as Standard Time. Originally, the source was a high precision clock (often referred to as the Master Clock) against which other clocks and certain railroaders' (employes') standard watches were compared for accuracy. A time authority, frequently using a time signal from an observatory, would provide a means for ensuring that the Master Clock was accurate. After a while, the observatory time signals were sent out to the railroad's locations over telegraph wires. The act of getting this time to all of the locations and employes who needed it is called the distribution of standard time.

At first, the time was distributed by the conductors, as noted in the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad rule on Standard Time quoted above. By the 1880s, the time was distributed via telegraph as specified by the South Carolina Railway in 1885. By the turn of the century, observatory time signals were nationally distributed; in Canada by McGill Observatory in Montreal; and in the U.S. by the Navel Observatory in Washington, D.C., via Western Union; as seen in these TNO and NYC Rules.

Standard Clocks

Each important location on the railroad, stations, depots, etc., would have a clock designated as being a standard clock, such as required in Section No. 14 of the 1892 L&N Rules. Each standard clock had an employe responsible for comparing the time shown on that clock to standard time and posting a notice of its deviation from standard time. The notice of deviation would often be a Placard displaying the number of seconds deviation and indication of slow or fast.

Standard Watches

Railroaders Had To Have A Standard Watch referred to by those in the watch and jewelry trade as a railroad watch but referred to by the railroads and railroaders as a standard watch. But the watches were only a part of a system of ensuring that the operating personnel had access to, and operated using, the correct time (Standard Time).

Requirements to Carry Standard Watches

Although the person who originally owned a watch may have worked for a railroad, that watch is not necessarily what could properly be called a railroad watch, actually a standard watch. The use of a standard watch was only required of a portion of the railroad employes, usually those directly involved in running the trains, or controlling, or affecting, the operation of trains. Other employes not under time service rules carried whatever watches they liked.

Typical lists of those required to carry a standard watch appear in an 1892 report of Time Inspection on the Illinois Central Railroad and as Standard Time Rule No. 2 in a 1901 Edition of Canadian Pacific Railway General, Train, and Interlocking Rules. A later list of Burlington Route employes required to carry a standard watch is shown in the 1949 CB&Q Rules. In 1955, this rule showed up requiring yardmen to carry a standard watch:
"Article 20 - (c) Yardmen entering the service must be able to read and write, will be subject to and required to pass uniform examination and will comply with the regulation governing the use of standard watches."
"Agreement Between The Texas and Pacific Railway Company; Texas Pacific - Missouri Pacific Terminal Railroad of New Orleans; and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen"
"Schedule of Pay Allowed and Rules Governing Yardmen - Rewritten effective as of December 1, 1955"
for reference, the Union Pacific RR website has concise explanations of Past and Present Railroad Job Descriptions.

Employes Were Prohibited from Setting Their Watches

It doesn't do any good to ensure that the railroaders have very accurate and repeatable watches, set to standard time, if they can re-set their watches anytime they felt like doing it. Thus, railroaders were prohibited from setting their watches. One example of rules prohibiting this can be seen in section 15 of the 1897 Ball Time Inspection Service rules for the Big Four (CCC&StL) and the Peoria & Eastern Railway Co., in which states, in part, "There shall be no attempt on the part of the employe to set and regulate their own watches, ..." Another example is in section 2a of the Temiskaming & Northern Ontario General Train and Interlocking Rules, August 10, 1901, which states, in part, "Employees who are required to use Standard Watches must ... not regulate them, or, unless they stop owing to failure to wind, set them themselves." Prohibitions of the employes setting their watches continued to appear in the rules, as evidenced by Delaware Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company Circular 13-2: Watch Inspection and Standard Time Service, January 1, 1938 section 7: "Employes should refrain from any attempt to set or regulate their watches." The regulation of watches was seen to be serious business, which is why most rules prohibited both, usually in the same sentence. Just how serious the regulation of a watch by other than the authorized inspector was, can be seen by a 1899 report from the Illinois Central that stated, "Failure to comply with these requirements will be considered sufficient cause for dismissal." The railroad brotherhoods, as organizations if not as individuals, fully supported the railroads' point of view of the standard watches being safety devices that should not be set by the railroaders themselves. A 1941 letter from a high BRT official, regarding the withdrawal of a grievance by a yard worker, demonstrates this attitude.

The watch inspectors who set the watches may, or may not, have set them to the second. The practice varied. One inspector's narrative of 1940s practice contained the following. "I checked his time to the minute and second against our own master timepiece, setting the seconds hand with the point of my tweezers." Otherwise, the +/- 30 seconds per week allowable variation (most standard watches did much better than this) enabled the very occasional setting of only the minute hand (by the inspector) when comparing time at the watch inspector's place. The inspector would regulate any watch whose rate was fast or slow anywhere near the 30 second limit. Watches that couldn't hold the rate had to be withdrawn from service until they were serviced.

Watch Inspection

Periodically, railroaders who came under time service rules had to have their standard watches inspected and certified by the railroad's designated watch inspector. This was typically twice a year but some railroads required it quarterly. The inspector would check to see that the watch was one which was allowed by that particular railroad's rules and that it was in good running order, capable of meeting the timekeeping requirement, typically +/- 30 seconds per week. Finding everything satisfactory, the inspector would certify the watch. This was done using the appropriate forms. In the 1950s, the Western Maryland Railway was using a Two-Part Form, the first part being the railroad's authorization to have the watch inspected (which probably served to permit the inspector to invoice the railroad for the cost of the inspection), and the second part being the certificate which was returned to the railroad as proof of the employe's standard watch being suitable for time service use over the next six months. The employe would be given a Watch Card (certificate) to carry to prove that his/her watch passed inspection. Sometimes, a three-part form would have all of these together, to be separated upon passing inspection.

Most railroads' rules stated that, should the watch not pass inspection, it could not be taken to another inspector in the hopes that he would pass it. Rather, if it otherwise met the standard, it would have to be serviced to bring it up to the point where the original inspector would pass it. Since virtually all watch inspectors were watchmakers and jewelry store owners, the watch would usually be left with the inspector for service (at the employe's expense). Upon the completion of the service, the inspector would (naturally) pass the watch. This whole process is described in sections 4-7 of the 1887 Wabash Western Watch Inspection Rules. It should be noted that the employe didn't have to have his/her watch repaired by the company's watch inspector. It could be taken to the employe's watch repairer of choice. However, if this route was chosen, the watch would still have to go back to the original inspector to be accepted – for which the employe would be charged an inspection fee. This fee, along with the additional hassle, plus the fear that the inspector might not accept the repaired watch, encouraged the employes to have the watch repaired by the inspector. This is described in sections 4-7 of the 1887 Wabash Western Watch Inspection Rules and section 13 of the 1897 Big Four Time Inspection Service Circular.

The Watch Inspectors

There were two basic methods with which railroads could have time service departments carrying out watch inspections. First, the railroads could have their own time service departments. These were created by railroads such as the Baltimore & Ohio, the Canadian Pacific, and many others. The second way was to let the service out to a contractor. The best known of which was the Ball Railroad Time Service (which operated under a number of different names over the years). Other contractors included John C. Adams, Giles, Bro. & Co., J.W. Forsinger, National Railway Time Service Co. and J.H. Mace Co.

One interesting aspect of being the General Watch Inspector, Chief Inspector of Watches, Superintendent of Time Service, General Time Inspector, or some similarly titled official, if the time service department was contracted out, was the opportunity make profits as a supplier of watches to the jewelers who served as local watch inspectors. The situation is explained in this 1899 news blurb which points out that "... local inspectors always obtain their watches from the general inspector." However, this supply arrangement order may not have been universal, merely reflecting the local conditions reported by the correspondent covering the St. Louis beat.

A large number of roads contracted out their time service functions, such as the Wabash Western (Giles); the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (Forsinger); the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (Forsinger, and later, Ball); the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul (National); the New York Central (Ball); just to name a few. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy split the overall task between two contractors (Ball & Mace). Or, a combination of the two might have been used wherein the railroads' time inspection department contracted the work out for some areas. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe did this (Mace).

Whether the program was in-house or contracted out, the actual watch inspectors were watchmakers at various locations along the railroad's right-of-way. These were mostly local jewelers, appointed by the railway's time service authority (be it in-house or contracted). They received a nominal fee for certifying standard watches and performing regular inspections, usually twice monthly. The main advantages of being a watch inspector were the opportunities to sell high grade, often expensive watches to the railroaders; the scheduled cleaning and repair work; and the constant traffic of those railroaders who might conduct their other jewelry business with the watch inspector while they were there for the regular watch inspections and comparisons. Some remote locations lacked a suitable watchmaker who could serve as a local inspector. These were serviced by a company-designated traveling inspector who would visit these locations on a regular basis and be compensated for doing so. However, traveling for a railroad's time service department could be hazardous for the inspectors, as noted in this 1894 report.

Watch Comparison

Webb C. Ball is often mistakenly credited with creating railroad time service and watch inspection as a result of an 1891 train wreck at Kipton, Ohio. As has been demonstrated by the many earlier systems documented thus far, there was steady evolution of time service systems since the beginning of the railroads. The significant advance that Ball created was the regular comparison, by the watch inspector, of employes' watches to a standard clock, and recording the results.

Railroaders under time service rules had to bring their watches to the inspector, who would compare it to a standard clock, twice a month, or perhaps every other week and sometimes monthly (refer to the second paragraph in the article – although the AT&SF changed this to weekly visits within a year). The watch's deviation from standard time would be noted - on some railroads, on the back of the employe's watch card (certificate). Checking against the previous comparisons, if the watch's rate was stable, but creeping slightly, the inspector might change the regulator position slightly. If the rate was erratic or had a large steady change, the inspector would probably not pass the watch, requiring it to be serviced prior to again entering service.

In-between the visits to the watch inspector, on almost all railroads, the employe had to compare his/her watch against a standard clock upon reporting for work and note the deviation from standard time, sometimes on the back of the watch card, or sometimes on a case paper in the back of the case (such as seen in this 16-May-09 message board post), as proscribed in Section 9 of the 1887 Wabash Western Rules. On a few roads, employes under time service were required to note the deviation in a daily register. On at least some railroads, engineers, when signing for an engine would have to do this, noting the deviation from standard time on the engine sign-out form. Some railroads required the engineer and conductor, before starting on a trip, to compare their watches with the standard clock and record the fact in a register kept for that purpose. See Section 317 of these 1899 Canadian Railway Rules. Additionally, most railroads' operating rules required that the engineers and conductors compare their watches with the standard clock, with each other and with the train crew, each seeing the time on the others' watches, to ensure that all had the same (standard) time. Sections 3 and 3a of the 1901 Canadian Pacific Railway General, Tran and Interlocking Rules serve as an example.

Watch Cleaning

The rules required that standard watches be cleaned on a periodic basis. Around the turn of the century, this was every 12 or 18 months. By the 1920s, the period was extended out to 24 months. Cleaning was at the expense of the employes. They didn't have to leave their watch with the watch inspector, being able to take their watch to any watchmaker they so desired. However, the employe's replacement watch (to be used while his standard watch was being serviced), even if it was a loaner standard watch that the chosen watchmaker might provide, would have to be inspected by the watch inspector prior to entering service, at the employe's expense In 1887, the fee for this was the considerable amount (at the time) of 25¢, as noted in Section 7 of the 1887 Wabash Western Watch Inspection Rules. Such additional running around and the need to have a loaner watch inspected, encouraged the employe to have his/her watch serviced by the watch inspector.

The railroads kept records of employe watch cleaning, inspection and certification, eventually using systems such as described in a 1945 article in Railway Age on pages 1148, 1149 and 1150. When the due date for the cleaning of a standard watch was coming around, a reminder card would be sent to the employee. Should the railroad not receive documentation that an employe's standard watch was cleaned within a reasonable amount of time of the due date, a notice to that effect would be go out to the employee.

Loaner Watches

Most of the railroads' rules required that, should a watch inspector take in an employe's watch for service or repair, he must provide a loaner watch to the employe. This requirement traces back to one of the earliest documents on time service (see section 8):
Quotes:
7. Conductors will submit their watches to Bond & Sons, 17 Congress street, Boston, for examination, and procure from them a certificate of reliability, which will be handed to the Superintendent.

8. Conductors will report to Messrs Bond any irregularity in the movements of their watches, and they will clean, repair and regulate them, at the expense of the Corporation, furnishing Conductors with reliable watches in the interim.

Boston & Providence Railroad, Standard Time, August 31, 1853 from: Selling The True Time, Nineteenth-Century Timekeeping in America, Ian R. Bartky, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 2000, pg.29
Another good example may be seen in Section 8 of the 1887 Wabash Western Watch Inspection Rules. Furthermore, the rules stated that the loaner watch provided must meet the company's current standard for watches and the employe must be issued a Watch Card (or Certificate) for the loaner watch, certifying that it has been inspected and meets the company's standard.

Grandfathering

When new time service rules went into effect, it is doubtful that many railroaders had to buy new watches as these rules changed, if the watches could maintain the required rate; +/- 30 seconds per week. Even those rules adopted in the early 1890s, such as Ball's August 15, 1891 Rules for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, permitted lesser watches to remain in service if they had previously been accepted under less stringent rules, a practice commonly referred to as "grandfathering." The usual phrase used to define the grandfathered watches in time service documents was something akin to "The standard adopted by this company for its employes' watches now in service is ..." However, there were exceptions.

Although an number of examples restricting older watches can be cited (i.e., section 35 of the 1946 Union Pacific Railroad Rules), the majority of the railroads' time service rules that are available to examine seem to have clauses permitting the grandfathering of much older, and perhaps lesser watches. This is so much so, that a number of examples of post WWII "Certificate of Watch Inspector" have provisions for describing hunting-case watches such as a 1950 example from the Frisco Lines and a 1956 watch inspection order form and attached certificate from the Western Maryland Railway. Although the requirement for watches to be adjusted to five positions had been in effect on many railroads for over forty years, in 1949 the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (the Burlington Route) section 2 permits watches adjusted to only three positions to remain in service.

Thanks for the information, I read it over a couple of times & I don't see a mention of private label watches.

I found a couple of sets of rules for different railroads. This 1st one is from the Rules of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroads 1908. It does not mention any actual requirements other than the watch has to be inspected & pass inspection.

This is one from the Rules of the Southern Pacific 1922

It requires;
1. 16 size
2. Adjusted to 5 positions
3. Adjusted to temperature
4. Double roller
5. 19, 21, or 23 jewels
6. Lever set
7. Plain Arabic dial

I planned on putting these in order by date but messed up.

This one is for the Wabash dated Dec 1, 1899

1. A watch at least equal to the grade known as "The Nickel 17 Jewel American Movement"
2. Adjusted to temperature, isochronism
3. Not less than 3 positions
3. Patent regulator
4. Breguet hairspring
5. Watches now in service, if equal to the former standard will be approved if their rating in 3 positions does not show an error in rate larger than 7 seconds between any two positions in a test of 24 hours in each position

Here is an article in line with what Mark mentioned about Ball having an edge on the competition. The article is from The Daily Journal Freeport, Il October 30, 1907.

It is where a bill was planning on being introduced in Illinois. I could not find the outcome but I would guess it didn't pass since Ball continued to be the Inspector.

Tom

How EXTREMELY interesting

Two seperate bills, one in Michigan and Illinois, to investigate and stop the "Ball" price gouging and keep those affiliated with watch companies from being considered, and ** POOF ** the bills just disappear

Corruption & Pay Offs and the "Ball" goes on

Perhaps the more things change, the more they stay the same

regards,
bb

A very astute business man. He did not care if the trainmen could afford it or if it took bread out of the mouth of the family. It was all about the bottom line.
Hmmm, Buster, all of this sounds as if it could be happening now. Naw, just my imagination.

We know that history never repeats. Does it?

Sorry, Tom. I did not mean to get so far afield of private label watches being RR approved. Just got carried away.

Well, it was the 'Gilded Age', and at that time ANYTHING was pretty much allowed until the Government finally stepped in (some of the time) to stop some of the corruption that went on during that timeperiod.

Money greased the wheels of industry, and the palms of those who regulated it whenever possible.

Regards! Mark

Tom, thank for your help yesterday. Even though we didn't come up with anything... I couldn't believe what Google has done with that database! I found 8 citations for my genealogical work in about 30-45 mins. THANK YOU! You DA MAN!

Also, I found out my g-g-grandfather was a founder the Chester & Lancaster train line. It's unlikely, but if you ever run across something related to that I'd be mighty interested. Also, when he was a young man he worked as Head Clerk in J.A.Henneman's jewelry store in Spartanburg for four years.