Webb C. Ball is often mistakenly credited with creating railroad time service and watch inspection as a result of an 1891 train wreck at Kipton, Ohio. As has been demonstrated by the many earlier systems documented thus far, there was steady evolution of time service systems since the beginning of the railroads. The significant advance that Ball created was the regular comparison, by the watch inspector, of employes' watches to a standard clock, and recording the results. When watches were checked, the deviation from standard time would be noted. On some railroads it would be on the back of the employe's watch card or certificate. Checking against the previous comparisons, if the watch's rate was stable, but creeping slightly, the inspector might change the regulator position slightly. If the rate was erratic or had a large steady change, the inspector would probably not pass the watch, requiring it to be serviced prior to again entering service. In-between the visits to the inspector, on almost all railroads, the employe had to compare his/her watch against a standard clock upon reporting for work and note the deviation from standard time, on the back of the watch card, or sometimes on a case paper in the back of the case.
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