- Hamilton railway special pocket watch how to#
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The 992E is a 992 with an Elinvar hairspring.Įlinvar was invented by the same Frenchman in the late 1800s who also invented Invar. The 992 is lever-set and has 21 jewels, a double roller escapement and is adjusted to five positions. Most are 16 size (made until 1931), and other sizes were made until 1957. The original Hamilton 992 was their most popular pocket watch. Hamilton's first railroad watch was the model 940, with 21 jewels in 18 size. From about the 1950s, the pendulum clock was set to WWV. The watch inspector kept his reference time with a pendulum clock in his office. The man would receive a "watch card," or a certificate that his watch was inspected on a certain day, and would need to produce a current certificate if challenged by a manager.
Typically the men brought their watches to the watch inspector every other week to be checked, and set if necessary. Each railroad had a "Watch Inspector" or inspectors who were in charge of setting and maintaining the fleet of watches carried by the men. An inaccurate watch could put one train in the same place in the other direction as another train.Įach railroad adopted different standards, but generally they required watches that kept time to within 30 seconds per week. Men realized that accurate timing was critical to keep trains in the right place at the right time. If one train was running early and another was running late, instead of passing each other in the opposite directions as intended, they might be on the same track at the same time running in opposite directions. The earlier versions had flowery script, while the very recent version shown here has much plainer lettering.Īs railroads became more popular, trains started crashing into one another as the tracks got too crowded. The 992B (1940-1968) had different internal engraving as the years rolled on. The original 992 (1902-1931) was often sold uncased and you then purchased a case at the same time from your jeweler, while the 992B seen here was usually sold as a complete cased watch. Hamilton sold the same movement with your choice of many different cases and many different hands and faces. The Hamilton 992 and 992B may be the most popular railroad watches ever made. At introduction in late 1940, it was advertised boldly as "America's finest and most accurate railroad watch." It was also the last railroad watch, made and certified after others went out of production in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. "Railway Special" was registered as a trademark on 24 December 1939. I run my 992B in ideal conditions, usually sitting on my desk all day and left in a different position at night depending on if it's a little fast or slow, but any 992B in proper operating condition should run within a few seconds per day. (My Casio free-runs 1/3 of a second per day fast (+10 seconds per month) if it doesn't reset itself each night.) None of my quartz watches run within a second per month this is more accurate than my Casio Atomic watch, if neither is reset and has to free-run for a month.
Its regulator is adjusted not with a simple "F - S" lever, but with a zero-backlash (spring loaded) micrometer screw that adjusts the regulator far more precisely. It's varied a little over the months, but has never been more than ☑5 seconds different from WWV. How accurate is it? The sample seen here has gained only 1.4 seconds from when I set it to standard time on 03 November 2013 to when I'm writing this three months later on 05 February 2014. it is among the highest quality consumer items ever made in the USA. It has 21 jewels, 16 size, is factory adjusted to keep accurate time in all 6 positions and is lever-set. The Hamilton 992B Railway Special is a high-quality railroad pocket watch.
Hamilton railway special pocket watch pro#
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Hamilton railway special pocket watch free#
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Hamilton railway special pocket watch how to#
I'd get it at this link directly to them at eBay (see How to Win at eBay). Hamilton 992B with Montgomery Dial in a Wadsworth bar-over-crown (BOC) 10k gold-filled case (21 jewels, factory adjusted for 6 positions, lever set, 16 size, 3.410 oz./96.7g, about $200 used). Intro Specs Performance Compared Usage Recommendations More Home Donate New Search Gallery Reviews How-To Books Links Workshops About Contact