What is Railroad Standard Time?
America’s commerce depends on the safe operation of the railroad system. Until the advent of mobile communications, railroad safety depended on accurate timekeeping to assure that two trains do not try to occupy the same space at the same time. The use of watches on American railroads goes back almost to the beginning. As soon as there were two trains moving in opposite directions on a single-track line, there arose a need to control their movements. That is, one train had to pull off into a siding to allow the other to pass. Since there were no telphones, radios or telegraphs, the engineers could not see each other untill it was too late. The graceful ballet of moving on the main line versus waiting on the side was done on the basis of printed schedules that had to be adhered to with great care. This required that everyone know exactly what time it was according to a single standard. Accordingly, special portable clocks (i.e. the Railroad Watch) were needed.
