Following a catastrophic collision in 1891 between two rail cars, believed to be the result of a conductor's watch being inaccurate, the commissioner of railroads appointed Webb C. Ball to develop and set strict accuracy standards for railroad watches and clocks. The Ball Watch Company of Cleveland Ohio was formed. Interestingly it never manufactured watches or clocks. Webb C. Ball strongly (some say heavy-handedly) enforced the strict standards and allowed those watches and clocks that met or exceeded the strict standard to be signed with his name. By the early 1900's Webb C Ball of Cleveland Ohio, was the general time keeper for over 125,000 miles of track in the U.S., Mexico and Canada
Watches and clocks were signed "Webb C. Ball Company", "Ball Watch Co., Cleveland" sometimes with "Official Railroad Standard" or "Ball Standard Dial, Pat. Applied. For". Ball watches and clocks were considered the finest watches by rail men at the beginning of and well into this century. They are becoming increasing difficult to find, particularly clocks with this signature.
Short-Drop Regulator
Regulator No. 3
Note: The Ball Watch Co. apparently used a special seconds bit with a "loop" that was different than what one conventially finds on a Seth Thomas Regulator No.3. In addition, we have seen two different hand configurations on Ball No. 3s, including the above (counter-balanced) hands. We have also found that the Ball No. 3s have a pair of "L" brackets mounted horizontally in the case fron the back to the sides, just below the movement.
Gallery Clock
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