Timing is Important for Avoiding Railroad Disasters

Because trains are unable to swerve right or left to avoid collisions, precise scheduling was used to eliminate the possibility of two trains sharing the same track in opposing directions, at the same time. This web of track was laced with countless switches, signals and side tracks. Thousands of trains operated daily chugging on and off of those side tracks, to allow their counter parts to safely pass.

In that era trains didn't have the luxury of radios, cell phones or GPS devices. Therefore is was imperative that all trains start and stop at precisely scheduled times. Trains were required to pass onto certain track switches at certain times. If the engineer or conductor got it wrong, disaster would strike.

This complex scheduling system had two major draw backs.

First off, there was no North American time standard. Every village, town and city operated on its own time. There were over fifty different "times" in use by the various railroads in the 1880s. Train engineers and conductors had to constantly be aware of the ever changing "time zones" in their route. Often this was no easy feat.

Second, the reliability and accuracy of timepieces in that era was woefully inadequate. When two or three minutes could spell the difference between life and death, one can quickly see that the precision of the conductor's personal timepiece was paramount. The precision of watches in the 1880s just didn't measure up.

In fact, it was a head on train disaster in 1892 - caused by a conductor's watch being off by only three minutes - that forced the railroad industry to address the "time" issues and come up with solutions.

The turn of the twentieth century saw two remedies evolve to solve the problems.

First off, a standardized 'railroad' time system was adopted. Four national time zones - Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific - where set up. (As a interesting side note, it was many years later, that the U.S. congress officially established the same time zones as a national standard.) Second, a program was embarked upon to establish strict standards for acceptance of timepieces to be used within the rail industry.

The watch manufacturers of the day quickly responded by creating timepieces that would meet the demanding requirements of accuracy and dependability, required by the railroads. Thus was born the railroad pocket watch.

The newly engineered timepieces and the adoption of time standards had an immediate effect on the rail industry. Serious accidents and collisions were significantly reduced as the entire interconnected rail system became predictable. The North American continent continued its move into the industrial age, but now it was safely "on time".