Santa Fe Railroad Timing Through the course of events the Santa Fe Railroad Co. had found it necessary to hire someone to inspect the watches and clocks through out its network of stations and stops to ensure that all were keep adequate time. They hired H. S. Montgomery as the General Watch and Clock Inspector. Montgomery at that time was the manager of the Santa Fe Watch and Clock Co. The name Montgomery is familiar to watch repair persons and collectors, for it was he that designed or had designed, the much sought after Montgomery Safety Railroad Dial. Montgomery instituted many important changes in the management of time for Santa Fe that were adopted by other railroad companies and became the standard. Montgomery needed a clock that would keep accurate time to protect against interruptions of the dial time signals sent out by Western Union to all Santa Fe stations for which they could check their depot clock. The depot clocks were used by every employee to check their pocket watch against every time they pulled into a stop. If a depot clock did not match the time signal sent out by Western Union then a sign would be posted showing the plus or minus seconds or would state the clock is correct. This would let the employees, who were checking their pocket watches, know whether they kept the correct time. In 1904 Montgomery had selected the clock that would fill this need. It was a Precision Clock made by Seth Thomas. The clock was constructed so that it varied only the slightest in several months from the correct time. The clock was massive with a cast iron frame resting on a stone base. The movement was an 8 day gravity escapement. All the bearings surfaces were jeweled throughout, even the pulleys for the weights, thus giving uniform power to every part of the movement. Its weights passed through two polished tubes, one on each side of the clock. Every part of the clock could be inspected without disturbing it in any way, because every part was exposed for viewing through plate glass. It had a compensating mercury pendulum, weighing more then thirty pounds. Regards, Tim Sweet M.O.S.T Watch & Clock Co. Website: http://www.tritco.com/most/most1.html Member: NAWCC, BHI, AWI