Pocket Watch

Antique collectors are often attracted to a railroad pocket watch as it has good value and prestige. Additionally, a good number of models have low production quantities. Perhaps their greatest attraction, however, is their association with the romance of the trains and the tracks.

These became an important part of train travel as soon there were enough locomotives to travel in opposite directions on a lone track. Timekeeping had to be attended to with extra care. Indeed, in 1891, nine lives were lost in a train wreck when the timepiece of the train engineer stopped running for four minutes and then resumed. After this incident, newer and stricter standards were defined for train engineers' timepieces.

Such standards included: requiring 15 jewels, though some manufacturers later increased this; accuracy of up to 30 seconds per week; Arabic numerals on a white face; and they must be temperature compensated.

There are several websites that offer these antique pieces that, along with the trains, have helped shaped the history of the United States. If you want one of these, all you have to do is get on the Internet.