All About Watches

I got thinking about watches and timepieces recently. It started when I tried to find a new strap for my old Timex watch. It's one of those Ironman digital watches. I've had two or three of them over the years and they're great. They're cheap and just about indestructible. Even the batteries in them don't seem to wear out. As the old commercials used to say, 'They can take a lickin and keep on tickin'. But eventually the watch strap will break and that's what happened to me. I had a difficult time finding the right strap because Timex make a lot of different styles of these watches. I finally found the correct one in a store and tried to attach it to the watch. They had the proper tools and I've done this before. It's usually a simple procedure. But I couldn't get the thing to stay on. The clerk behind the counter tried and failed. I took the new strap to another jewelery store and they attempted it and failed. I don't know why the darn thing won't stay attached but it just won't. I still haven't given up though.

So I had a watch that worked but no strap to keep it on my wrist. I found another watch but the battery was dead. It was then I discovered some old and almost forgotten wind up wrist watches. One was an almost original Mickey Mouse watch. I say 'almost original' because I don't think it dates back to the late 50's or even the 60's but I'm pretty sure I picked it up sometime in the early 70's. I wound it up and amazingly it worked. Old Mickey kept pretty good time too, for about 6 hours and then he got tired and just stopped. I found another old wind up watch too. I got this one in the late 70's and I think it was actually a pretty expensive watch at the time. I'm not sure where this one came from but I remember I picked it up from a guy I worked with for just a few bucks. This is a diving watch made by Orator with all kinds of extra goodies including a stopwatch and it says it has 17 jewels, whatever that means. I did some checking and discovered that the jewels used in watches are usually rubies, sapphires, garnets or diamonds. After 1900 most of the rubies were actually synthetic. Jewels are used because they can be polished and made very smooth and they let metal watch parts slide easily. They're also extremely hard and don't wear down very quickly. Usually the more jewels in a watch the better it is. My old diving watch has only seventeen jewels but it still keeps good time. It's thirty years old and hasn't been used for at least the last twenty years and the thing is still accurate. It's a cool watch and I'm wearing it again. The only problem is it weights a lot compared to my light and battery powered digital wrist watch.

During my search for watches I also discovered two old pocket watches. Unfortunately neither of them still work or at least I can't get them to go. One is probably from the 19th century and when you open the back it says 'Remontoir'. I did some research and that can either be the make of the watch or the French word used to describe a type of Swiss spring mechanism used in the watch. There is also an engraving on the inside cover that I can't quite make out. I have no idea where this watch came from. The other is a newer vintage pocket watch made by Westclox. I found out this particular model was first made in 1932 but I don't know how old this watch actually is. Either way they're great to have and look at even if I don't know the story behind them.

I was reading an article about pocket watches and found out how important they were for railroaders from about 1891 to 1969. The CNR even issued a standard pocket watch to all railroad employees that had to meet a long list of requirements. Each watch had to have at least 17 jewels and was checked for accuracy once a month by the railroad approved watchmaker. This was done of course for safety reasons because train traffic was controlled by a time schedule and two trains traveling on the same track could have disastrous consequences.

So now that I've discovered an old wrist watch that keeps such accurate time I'm doing something again that I haven't done in many years. I'm winding a watch by hand. And you know there's something therapeutic about taking the time every morning and evening to simply wind a watch. I can't explain it but it just feels right. Oh and about that broken watch strap that started all this .... I finally got it replaced. After numerous failed attempts by myself and others to attach the new strap, I took it to a pro, jeweler Mike Hamm on the west side. He had the strap on in about 30 seconds.

Tidy Trails and Turtle Mountain

(This is the latest column in River Valley News. Just today my wife and I were walking along this trail and were almost run over by two older kids on bikes. Bicycles are not allowed on the trail. It's clearly marked as such. These kids were racing as fast as they could up and down the hills and around the bends. We got out of the way just in time. It was around 5:00 pm when the trail starts getting crowded with people walking after supper with young kids and pets. Someone could get seriously hurt. These kids on the bikes are old enough and should know better. )

It's nice that we can once again walk along the River Valley Drive Trail through Grand Bay-Westfield. The wet areas are drying out and the town has added more crushed gravel to parts of the trail, making the base underfoot smoother and more secure. We can witness the approach of summer with every step we take. More leaves are budding every day and plants of all kinds are poking out of the ground. It's one of the nicest places to be in town at this time of year.

That is until you turn your attention toward the train tracks. Those trees and bushes that were needlessly mowed down last fall are still lying where they fell. Now I know the railway has to trim brush along the line for reasons of safety. But it's clear in many places along the trail they overdid it, knocking down fairly large trees standing well back from the tracks. Even if this was the standard sized path they normally clear along the rail line, surely they could have exercised some caution and common sense here. This is an urban area with backyards on one side and a popular walking trail on the other, a trail that already has a limited buffer of trees and brush between it and the tracks. It's sad to look at what they've done, but it's done. We can't put those trees back. It'll take many years for nature to repair the damage.

But some of the harm that was done can be corrected by at least clearing up the mess left behind. And I have some good news on that front. I put a call into the Irving owned NB Southern Railroad to find out if they had any intention of cleaning up the slash. The answer is yes. A company spokesperson got back to me and said they will be sending a crew out to do the work within a few weeks. Now I don't know if this was the company's plan all along or if my inquiry prompted them to take action. Or perhaps someone in authority from the town contacted them and asked for a clean up. I some how doubt that because when I called the town about it last fall, they didn't seem very concerned. Either way, I'm delighted to hear a crew from NB Southern will be coming to pick up the scrub lying on both sides of the track. It'll make the loss of the trees easier to take if we don't see them left strewn about and rotting on the ground.


While we're on the topic of trails, I had a wonderful hike to Turtle Mountain the other day. A group from the Saint John Outdoor Enthusiast's Club was supposed to go but canceled at the last minute because they were told the road was wet and messy. That wasn't the case at all. The road and trail are in great shape, except for a few wet areas that you would expect to find at this time of year. The day was sunny and not too warm, perfect for the long 14 mile hike to and from the mountain. I've done that hike many times and skied the trail in the winter and I've never seen much wildlife. However this time we were treated to a wildlife fiesta. On the way in and again on the way out we saw fresh moose tracks. It turns out we were chasing two moose ahead of us on the trail and we didn't realize it. We were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of a big bull and a juvenile. We also got scared by a partridge and saw another one running across the tail and we scared a large snake sunning himself on a rock. The wildlife was a nice bonus to what turned out to be probably the best hike I've ever had to Turtle Mountain. It's a full day hike but well worth the effort, especially if you've never gone.