Nostalgia & History > Changing watch time en route?

In the 1950s, the NY Central - Big Four Indiana Div timetable

http://www.canadasouthern.com/caso/ett/images/indiana-tt-0951.pdf

said trains from Cincinnati to Indianapolis ran on
Eastern Time for the first 3.8 miles out of Cincinnati,
switching to Central Time at a place called Wade,
where trains didn't stop.

Obvious question: why?

Presumably all crews had watches with two
hour hands? They didn't actually turn their
watches back?

Did another railroad ever do that?

timz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In the 1950s, the NY Central - Big Four Indiana
> Div timetable
>
> http://www.canadasouthern.com/caso/ett/images/indi
> ana-tt-0951.pdf
>
> said trains from Cincinnati to Indianapolis ran
> on
> Eastern Time for the first 3.8 miles out of
> Cincinnati,
> switching to Central Time at a place called Wade,
> where trains didn't stop.
>
> Obvious question: why?
>
> Presumably all crews had watches with two
> hour hands? They didn't actually turn their
> watches back?
>
> Did another railroad ever do that?

Yes, two hour hands, and there were others.

TAW

I have my great-grandfathers railroad watch from his days working for the Santa Fe out of Needles, California.  It was Mountain Time to the east and Pacific Time to the west.  His watch has two hour hands on it.

Whilst working at MY office at Avon Yard for the NYC, the Indiana division was on Eastern Time and the Illinois Division was on Central Time, and the division post was at AN, the interlocking at the west end of Avon controlled by MY, and the operators at MY reported the EST time to the Indiana Division and the CST to the Illinois Division; similarly for Daylight Time as I recall.

The Barstow Jeweler did many including mine

---

timz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In the 1950s, the NY Central - Big Four Indiana
> Div timetable
>
> http://www.canadasouthern.com/caso/ett/images/indi
> ana-tt-0951.pdf
>
> said trains from Cincinnati to Indianapolis ran
> on
> Eastern Time for the first 3.8 miles out of
> Cincinnati,
> switching to Central Time at a place called Wade,
> where trains didn't stop.
>
> Obvious question: why?

Can only assume Wade was geographically the closest station to where the time zone actually changed.
>
> Presumably all crews had watches with two
> hour hands? They didn't actually turn their
> watches back?
>
> Did another railroad ever do that?

Assuming your question is in regard to re-setting watches as opposed to requiring dual-hour hand watches: Yes.
BN’s Northern Corridor timetable No.1, effective January 1, 1993 shows 'Mountain Continental Time'
beginning at Sandpoint Jct. ID, (initial station on Kootenai River Sub, Montana Division), while no scheduled stop
is shown for NRPC trains 1007 or 1008, Empire Builder, at that location. Presumably, watches of crew members
would be changed 'on-the-fly'. At the eastern end; Williston ND, assuming the crew ran-through, a stop was
scheduled and any watch changing could be done during that pause.
  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/21 22:23 by cewherry.