Does anyone make working station clocks?-Update: Look what I found!

[DigitalGriffin]

I'm looking for HO scale. Anybody have an idea where I can find ones that actually keep time?

You'd think it wouldn't be that hard to make one since I've seen some very small watches that would be about right in size. But no one seems to carry them. [%-)]

~Don

[Anonymous]

I belive there was one manufactured years ago but I can't recall who made it. Might have been NJ International or Faller.
Got a inexpensive ladies Timex?

[tstage]

Don,

What about finding a watch, about the approximate size that you need. Remove the crystal and make a new face for it.

You could design the clock face on your computer, print it out on a label, cut it to size, and cover over the old face. A piece of clear styrene could be fitted and glued over the top and trimmed out to match the building or clock stand.

Just a thought...

Tom

[Anonymous]

***, tstage got to this forum before me, I second that motion!

[davekelly]

tstage and trainbuff,

What a great idea. Taking the crystal off would also allow you to reshape the hands.

[Anonymous]

If you are going to modify the hands or take them off to replace the face, just be very careful. The small mechanisms are meant to exist within their little sealed up world and can be fragile. Setting the time could be a hassle since it would be hard to hide the stem. You could mount the watch with the stem down and hide it in a box to look like the old Regulator wall clocks. Since you might replace the face anyway, it would be no problem to mount the face so the stem is at the six o'clock position. You would have to reposition the hands, but since you are taking them off to replace the face that's no problem either.

[robengland]

I've seen "watch rings" for sale out of a briefcase in the mall for five New Zealand dollars which is about US$4. Go to the plastic junk shops, I'm sure you could find something small and cheap to put a new face and hands on

[tstage]

Setting the time...Hmmmmmm....Didn't think about that....[D)]

Tom

[nedthomas]

BRAWA make several wall and platform clocks (non-working w/moveable hands). They are illuminated. The timex sounds like a better idea.

[Anonymous]

Being a watchmaker I know there are several sizes available of ladies movements that could be fashioned into station clocks. These have a round bezel around the outside edge and insert into a hole designed to fit ring. The stem is recessed into the ring and to change the battery you just pull out movement from holder and supply new batt. You will have to design your own style clock to fit your location but all should work for couple years on one batt.

[oldyardgoat]

Might check with the HO 1920s-1930s modular group. They attend several of the major shows during the year. Someone in that group made a model of the Cheyenne, Wyo. (UP) depot with working clocks (4) in the clock tower, as I recall. Great idea, though.
How about it out there, modelers. A working clock for the Walthers Union Station would be a great entreprenurial opportunuity. And, we modelers could purchase the working clock insert for the WUS kit, or for our own station model.
Dan S.

[davekelly]

Imagine a working fast time station clock!

[DigitalGriffin]

I found this:

http://store.amtrak.com/clockswatches.html

Too bad Amtrak is waaaaay after my time period in the early 40's.

Thanks for the tips guys. Looks like I'm going to do some watch-kit bashing. [:D] *Add it to the 10,000 other things on my list*

[SpaceMouse]

I would just go to a jewery store, not a chain but the kind with a jeweler and ask what he can get in the way of small watch movements. I'll bet with any luck you can get one fairly cheap. Roman numerals will fit just about any period.

[Anonymous]

Hello DigitalGriffin,
You also might look around in collectable stores for miniture clocks. I know my wife has a few of them. They come in different styles and maybe one of those styles would be the perfect fit for your application. The faces are about 1/2" in diameter.

[tstage]

A self-contained unit (held in by a friction fit) that you could just pop in and out might work. The one that came with my award pen set is about 1" diameter. (That would be a little over 7' diameter in real life.)

Tom

[cefinkjr]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bw1242

Being a watchmaker ......

Sounds to me like a business opportunity for you, bw1242.[:)]

Chuck

[rrinker]

Again looking at old Model Railroaders, I think this one was December 82, there is a bunch of articles on the Gorre and Daphetid - Squawbottom bridge is on the cover. Anyway, there is a John Allen article in there on using mirros, and one picture shows the big mirror at the end of the Great Divide yard. The station is on one side, and on the other is a large building with - a clock dial in it! And it sure looks like a working clock! Andy S., if you're looking at this one - was John's clock tower operating, or just for show?

--Randy

[jrbarney]

Don,
You might want to send Custom Model Railroad an Email query from their home page. Their HO kit model of the Bromo Seltzer tower:
http://www.cmrtrain.com/bromo.html
has four ornate battery operated "clocks" in it. If they're willing to sell them separately from the kit, please let us know with a post. Fast, fast relief !
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[jrbarney]

Don,
You didn't explicitly state what diameter clock face you need, so when I was at the Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium, MD, this weekend, I chatted with the proprietor of Custom Model Railroads about his source for the Bromo Seltzer clock tower. He told me to enter;
http://www.clockit.com
on my computer. From that I found Bear Wood Supply Co., Inc. They have a 1 7/16" diameter "fit up" clock line. It uses an AA battery with a quartz crystal movement for $ 6.02:
http://www.bearwood.com/Assets/product/pdf/P26.pdf?inexid=4RUE060ZEA
They also have a 2 1/8" square cased quartz for 3 bucks and change. I think this is the unit he uses 4 of in the clock tower.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[Anonymous]

YES a company called Klockit sells all sorts of clock workings (suitable for many scales) www.klockit.com or 1-800-klockit.

The clock in our station on the Garden State Model Railroad club (www.gsmrrclub.org) works from a 1.5 battery (good for about 16 months so it gets replaced before our show each year!
Enjoy

[jrbarney]

NewHavenNut,
No matter how you spell it, it would appear that clocks from either firm would work. Your Klockit has a nice 15/16" diameter unit, but if someone is willing to pay a bit more and has enough space, they can have a VLF referenced "atomic clock":
http://www.klockit.com/products/dept-159__sku-AAAAH.html
It keeps track of Daylight Saving Time changes, so the only time you would have to maintain it would be to replace the battery. (Not my idea, Jeffrey A. Springer of CMR mentioned this idea during our conversation.)
Bob
NMRA Life 0543