We used to have 30 or 40 active wristwatch/pocket watch traders within a 40 mile radius of where I live, and I remember one fellow who had an original Omega Railmaster on a strap for sale or trade about 20 years ago. He wanted $350 for it iirc but no one wanted it.
Why not?
1...It did not qualify for Railroad Service on any Class 1 railroad in the USA. It was basically an Omega no date automatic with a magnetic shield in the back and a (most likely) iron dial. I am also a RR watch guy but it did not appeal to me because it was not RR Approved.
2... In order to be used in RR service the dial had to be white with black Arabic numbers and letters, no markers. The H and M hands had to be black and the SS hand could be black or red. Luminous dots by the numbers were Ok as were lume slots in the H&M hands. Mechanical wristwatches must have the 'stop second' feature (hack).
3...The watch has to keep time plus or minus 15 seconds per day and can be manual wind or automatic. The Omega could pass this Ok.
It was basically an 'Omega Milgauss', not really a RR watch.
Dressy Seamasters, Moonies, and Constellations were good for sales/trades back then but the Railmaster did not move.
Dumb azz that I am, I passed it by.
Btw...there is also a line of watches available that look like 'Official RR watches' but they are not. They are called 'Transportation Watches' and many truck drivers etc. still wear them today because it is easy to read the time on them. Sharp, Timex and a few other brands made them. You can find the Sharp RR look-alikes on eBay, sometimes claiming to be 'RR Approved'.
eBay item number: 404729588889
What happened to the Railmaster?
The guy's niece stole it along with about 30 other watches and the Police recovered most of them, but he did not mention the Railmaster. I have not seen him in 4 or 5 years, but he still sells/trades knives and watches about 40 miles from here at an abandoned RR depot/trading post.
Time Rocks On and now almost all RR approved watches are quartz, mostly Seiko.
If any mechanical watches are still allowed by a RR company in the USA, they will be listed in their timetables and/or rule books.
Btw...one of the first RR Approved mechanical wristwatches was the manual wind Elgin BW Raymond RR watch with the USA made cal 730A movement. They were not known to be very reliable in rough service though.
Later BWR Elgin RR wristwatches came out with the Swiss Made A. Schild 1604 movement. I still have one nos in the original walnut presentation box from times past along with a nos Elgin BWR pocket watch in a stainless steel case.
