A station clock is a clock at a railway station that provides a standard indication of time to both passengers and railway staff.
A railway station will often have several station clocks. They can be found in a clock tower, in the booking hall or office, on the concourse, inside a train shed, on or facing the station platforms, or elsewhere.
The design of station clocks in Europe was formerly quite diverse. Today, the majority of them are derived from the Swiss railway clock designed by Hans Hilfiker, a Swiss engineer, in 1944 when he was an employee of the Swiss Federal Railways. [1] In 1953, Hilfiker added a red second hand to its design in the shape of a railway guard's signaling disc. The technical implementation of the railway clock, the central synchronization by a master clock, was engineered together with Mobatime, a clock manufacturer still producing the Swiss railway clock as well as the German railway clock besides many others. [2] [3]
Modern European station standard station clock designs have a white clock face that is illuminated in the dark, bar shaped black coloured marks or scales, but no numbers, at the periphery of the clock face dial, and bar-shaped hour and minute hands, also coloured black. The second hand on these standard designs is a thin bar, thickened or fitted with a disc at the peripheral end, and often coloured red. Such clock designs are easily legible from a distance. [2]
A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and flags have evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is challenging. Many flags fall into groups of similar designs called flag families. The study of flags is known as "vexillology" from the Latin vexillum, meaning "flag" or "banner".
Rail transport is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road transport. It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed.
A rack railway is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail. This allows the trains to operate on steep grades above 10%, which is the maximum for friction-based rail. Most rack railways are mountain railways, although a few are transit railways or tramways built to overcome a steep gradient in an urban environment.
Swiss Federal Railways is the national railway company of Switzerland.
The Swiss rail network is noteworthy for its density, its coordination between services, its integration with other modes of transport, timeliness and a thriving domestic and trans-Alp freight system. This is made necessary by strong regulations on truck transport, and is enabled by properly coordinated intermodal logistics.
A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to repairing clocks and watches. Clockmakers must be able to read blueprints and instructions for numerous types of clocks and time pieces that vary from antique clocks to modern time pieces in order to fix and make clocks or watches. The trade requires fine motor coordination as clockmakers must frequently work on devices with small gears and fine machinery.
A clock face is the part of an analog clock that displays time through the use of a flat dial with reference marks, and revolving pointers turning on concentric shafts at the center, called hands. In its most basic, globally recognized form, the periphery of the dial is numbered 1 through 12 indicating the hours in a 12-hour cycle, and a short hour hand makes two revolutions in a day. A long minute hand makes one revolution every hour. The face may also include a second hand, which makes one revolution per minute. The term is less commonly used for the time display on digital clocks and watches.
A pocket watch is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist.
A coupling or coupler is a mechanism, typically located at each end of a rail vehicle, that connects them together to form a train. The equipment that connects the couplers to the vehicles is the draft gear or draw gear, which must absorb the stresses of the coupling and the acceleration of the train.
Helsinki Central Station (HEC) is the main station for commuter rail and long-distance trains departing from Helsinki, Finland. The station is used by approximately 400,000 people per day, of whom about 200,000 are passengers. It serves as the terminus for all trains in the Helsinki commuter rail network, as well as for all Helsinki-bound long-distance trains in Finland. The Rautatientori metro station is located in the same building.
Mondaine is the trademark for a series of watches made by the Swiss company Mondaine Watch Ltd. The company was founded by Erwin Bernheim. Initially, he exported wristwatches manufactured by different Swiss watchmakers. Subsequently, he started manufacturing lever watches at Remonta AG, a subsidiary of Mondaine in Biberist, Switzerland.
Hans Hilfiker was a Swiss engineer and designer. In 1944, working for the Swiss Federal Railways, he designed the Swiss railway clock, which became an international icon. The SBB clock was not the only contribution by Hilfiker to modern living. He developed the concept of the fitted kitchen and was responsible for the standard Swiss dimensions for kitchen components (55/60/90 cm).
A public transport timetable is a document setting out information on public transport service times. Both public timetables to assist passengers with planning a trip and internal timetables to inform employees exist. Typically, the timetable will list the times when a service is scheduled to arrive at and depart from specified locations. It may show all movements at a particular location or all movements on a particular route or for a particular stop. Traditionally this information was provided in printed form, for example as a leaflet or poster. It is now also often available in a variety of electronic formats.
Basel SBB railway station is the central railway station in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Opened in 1854, and completely rebuilt in 1900–1907, it is Europe's busiest international border station. Basel SBB is owned by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS). The other major railway station is Basel Badischer Bahnhof, operated by the German railway company Deutsche Bahn, on the north side of the Rhine from the city centre.
Disk-parking is a system of allowing time-restricted free parking through display of a parking-disk or clock-disc showing the time at which the vehicle was parked. A patrolling parking attendant can inspect the disk to check whether payment is owed. The system is common in Europe.
Railway semaphore signal is one of the earliest forms of fixed railway signals. This semaphore system involves signals that display their different indications to train drivers by changing the angle of inclination of a pivoted 'arm'. Semaphore signals were patented in the early 1840s by Joseph James Stevens, and soon became the most widely used form of mechanical signal. Designs have altered over the intervening years, and colour light signals have replaced semaphore signals in most countries, but in a few they remain in use.
Berkeley Deane Wise was an Irish civil engineer who made a significant impact on the development of railways and tourism, particularly in Northern Ireland.
A clock-face schedule, also cyclic schedule, is a timetable system under which public transport services run at consistent intervals, as opposed to a timetable that is purely driven by demand and has irregular headways. The name derives from the fact that departures take place at the same time or times during the day. For example, services with a half-hourly frequency might leave at 5:15, 5:45, 6:15, 6:45, 7:15, 7:45 etc.
The Swiss railway clock was designed in 1944 by Hans Hilfiker, a Swiss engineer and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) employee, together with Moser-Baer, a Swiss clock manufacturer, for use by the SBB as a station clock. In 1953, Hilfiker added a red second hand in the shape of the baton used by train dispatch staff, giving the clock its current appearance.
The Royal Bavarian State Railways had their own Bavarian railway signals for decades until they were gradually replaced by Deutsche Reichsbahn semaphore signals following the merger of all the German state railways into the newly created Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen in 1920. Bavarian home signals were still being used by the Deutsche Bahn until 2002 and Bavarian distant signals even after that.
Media related to Station clocks at Wikimedia Commons
