N&W Watch

[NW Mailing List]

Blair

That is a mighty fine pocket watch with N&W history.  Thanks for posting.

According to the NWCA the Bunn Special in the photograph was made in 
1910 +or- 5 years. It is a size 18 with the famous Montgomery Dial and 
21 jewels.  Top quality for the time period.  I have never seen a chain 
quite like the one in the photo.  If it is running don't worry about a 
few minutes either way.  It is history and any work unless made by a 
highly qualified person could do more damage than help.

If you go back in time the conductor and engineer would compare time on 
their watches before leaving.  I have stood by and watched this process 
many times.  As you can guess they compared time in seconds.  You would 
scratch your head when it was something like 15 seconds apart.  The 
conductor would call the time normally adjusted to the slower watch.  
They would not change the watch time but one watch would govern the 
train movement.

That chain can be repaired by a good watch maker.  I really appreciate 
seeing this chain and watch.

Jim Blackstock

On 2/20/2020 7:24 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:
> This is a photo of my great grandfather’s “Bunn Special,” made by the 
> Illinois Watch Company.  He was a N&W engineer responsible for 
> passenger service between Hagerstown, MD and Shenandoah, VA in the 
> 20’s and 30’s.  He died of a heart attack at the YMCA house during a 
> layover in Shenandoah, VA in 1937.  Oral history says he fell on this 
> watch when he died, hence the face damage.  I do not know if it was 
> issued by N&W or purchased.  Sears got its start selling watches to 
> engineers in 1886, when railroads demanded engineers carry “approved” 
> watches following a terrible train accident in 1891 that was the 
> result of poor timekeeping.  One can assume this trend would have 
> continued well into the 20th century.  N&W would not have wanted to 
> take on such an expense unless they were force to.  I am not aware of 
> any government regulation that required the reimbursement for the 
> purchase cost of “lever set” and “certified” watches.
>
> Blair Miller
> Herndon, VA
>
>
>
>
>
>> On Feb 20, 2020, at 2:01 PM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List 
>> <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>>
>> 
>> With the recent conversation about time I got to thinking - did the 
>> N&W have a standard clock model? My father has a beautiful marked PRR 
>> Seth Thomas #2 but I've never seen anything marked for the N&W.
>>
>> Brian Dembinski
>> Amherst, Ohio
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