I have a young friend up in Ohio who just emailed me to ask about a watch that he now owns that was the property of his grandfather. It doesn't run, he'd like to get it running again, then he read me the name...Columbus Railway King, serial number 215350. Can anyone give me any details about this particular watch? Is this one that needs to be 'cataloged', considering these were covered in the recent 'Railroaders Corner' in the bulletin? Thanks a lot! Regards. Mark

NAWCC Member 157508
NAWCC-IHC Member 163

This sounds like a very important watch Mark. All Columbus Railway King examples are noteworthy on several levels. The original Columbus records were lost forever when the South-Bend Watch Company closed late in 1929. Little by little they are now being pieced together once again.

If your friend would be willing to send it along to me I'd be honored to photograh it for the historical record we IHC Members are compiling. Those images will be posted here as well as made available to Ed and Kent for Railroader's Corner publication in the Bulletin for everyone to see.

For service, noted watchmaker Rich Kuhn would ably handle that project. If parts are needed I'll be happy to tap my fellow South-Bend Collectors who are always eager to assist. Then it would be carefully returned to your friend with whatever printed material we are able to develop about it enclosed.

Let me know if this offer would be of help.

Lindell

Hi guys!

I'm not sure what happened to it, but Paul Heffner collected quite a bit of Columbus Watch Co. information, and I hope it wasn't lost after he passed away. If no one knows for sure, perhaps it might be worth checking into.

Curiously enough, the lower grade Railway Kings all seem to be two-tone, while the higher grade ones are not.

By the way, Lindell, I don't think I've ever seen a better looking "choo-choo" dial than the one on your watch above! As always, thanks for sharing!

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Steve Maddox
President, NAWCC Chapter #62
North Little Rock, Arkansas
IHC Charter Member 49

Thank you Lindell. I'll refer him to this post, and we'll see what he thinks. High regards. Mark

NAWCC Member 157508
NAWCC-IHC Member 163

In my view and I trust that of most serious collectors, these are not only among the best Columbus Watches but they rank among the best of all the great American Watches. In my view these wonderful timekeepers are close to finally achieving the recognition they deserve.

Columbus King 21-Jewel number 505012 is an Open-Faced example...

Well, I've just seen photos of my friends Railway King, and it has the same dial as Lindell's open face watch seen here. I'm still awaiting his thoughts on Lindell's fantastic offer, and hope we'll be able to hear more about this watch. What absolutely stuns me is that he was just asking me about his Biltmore dollar watch, and just so happen to mention his other non-working watch that had belonged to his grandfather (or was that his great grandfather?). I asked him what it was, and almost dropped my teeth. Regards. Mark

NAWCC Member 157508
NAWCC-IHC Member 163