Re: Chama Depot - Clock

In those years, the Western Union did not supply a time signal direct to the Chama depot clock...

The time signal came at 10:00 AM (High Noon Eastern Time)every morning on the Railroad Morse wire No. 1 from Alamosa W.U., who got it in turn from their network which was synchronized with the Naval Observatory.

It was the same all over the D&RGW. Wires terminating in Denver got the time signal from W.U Denver Main. Wires terminating in Pueblo
got their time signal from Pueblo W.U. Etc.

The time signal was patched into all RR main Morse wires from the W.U. Clock board in the W.U. office serving, Interrupting any traffic on the wire. When the wire "broke" prior for the 10:00 AM time signal, any operator who happened to be sending closed his key and had to wait until the time signal sequence was over before resuming work on the wire.

The Morse time signal came as a momentary "click" from open circuit to closed circuit once each second for about three minutes prior to "the hour" except for an absent click at the 30 second mark of each minute.

Then at about 10 seconds before the exact 10:00 hour, the wire opened, and stayed open until a final single "click" that signalled "the" exact hour.

RR operators either held down an electric "set" button to zero their station clocks or set them manually if they were off more than 30 seconds. Anyone required to carry a standard RR approved watch was also required to check/set their watch at this time as required by the rules.

After the time signal sequence, the wire was closed up and put regular by the W.U. clock board operator or Wire Chief, and again available for normal use.

Those employees who could not be present to set their watches from the standard time signal via the Morse wires could compare their watches with a designated "Standard Clock" or with the watch of a fellow employee to make sure they were "on time" within the 30 second tolerance allowed. The Dispatcher would also provide a "time check" over the DS telephone if anyone wanted or needed one.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2009 06:29PM by Etrump.