Seth Thomas Railroad Clocks

[MrNewportCustom]

Here are two of the railroad wall clocks in the offices where I work. The founder of the company got them from the Monrovia, California, railroad depot when it closed many years ago. The depot is still across Myrtle Avenue from the original location of the company. Unfortunately, the station has fallen into disuetude.

This one is located behind the will-call counter. You can hear it ticking even when the showroom is busy. It's an eight-day movement. The key is stored below the pendulum.

Taken a few minutes earlier.

This one is a few feet away, in Karen's office. Unfortunately, except in Karen's opinion, it doesn't work. I love that second hand.

If I get a chance, I'll get pictures of as many of the rest as I can. I know of at least one, maybe two more that'll be easy to photograph.


Lee

 

[BJBAmerica]

Nice looking pieces of history there!!!

 

[Lucky Strike]

A few more of the same general type/period:

And an "Egyptian" number, ca. 1930:

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Beautiful clocks, Lucky Strike. I especially like the second one.

I finally looked around the rest of the offices, and the only one I found is exactly like the first one, but not wound up. I know there's a fourth, but I think it's in the owner's office, and I haven't seen it opened since he passed away a couple years ago.


Lee

 

[cookie]

Seth Thomas and Railway Clocks

In my airline days we used to haunt the Mutton Street Markets in Bombay (now Mumbai). The guys used to zero in on the old Thomas and Ansonia clocks which were supplied en masse to the Indian railways under the Raj. The problem was that the vendors could not keep their hands of the clocks and were always "scraping" them of their patina and putting in Japanese clock mechanisms. The boys used to buy them in the 80s for AUD400 so they were not cheap but what are they worth now? The other thing I regret is that I saw a lot of Art Deco glassware and did not purchase it. The Maharajas went ape for Art Deco and even built palaces in the style using local tradesmen.