Precision
In the summer of 1968 my family was returning from a vacation in Arizona, As was usual, we always found an excuse to travel close to a railhead. It's a warm late evening in the desert at the then open and working working El Garces Santa Fe station in Needles CA. We were up late to see the westbound San Francisco Chief make it's station stop here. My dad took this photo of the ATSF station clock. It has always amazed me how, back in those days, time was the most critical thing to be measured. My grandfather was a conductor for the Southern Pacific for 43 years and always carried a pocket watch with him that had to be inspected and certified by the railroad to be accurate to the second. This clock in Needles was no different, with it's notification that it is officially 2 seconds slow. Oh how times have changed.
Precision
In the summer of 1968 my family was returning from a vacation in Arizona, As was usual, we always found an excuse to travel close to a railhead. It's a warm late evening in the desert at the then open and working working El Garces Santa Fe station in Needles CA. We were up late to see the westbound San Francisco Chief make it's station stop here. My dad took this photo of the ATSF station clock. It has always amazed me how, back in those days, time was the most critical thing to be measured. My grandfather was a conductor for the Southern Pacific for 43 years and always carried a pocket watch with him that had to be inspected and certified by the railroad to be accurate to the second. This clock in Needles was no different, with it's notification that it is officially 2 seconds slow. Oh how times have changed.