The Clock A CFR SYMBOL

Tic, tac! Tic, Tac!
The New Years Eve is coming. We will all be staring at the secondhand of the billions of clocks from all over the world and we will count down all together the last moments of the year that we are concluding…

There is said that there was a time when in Romanian people were adjusting their watches according to the clocks in the railway stations and even bought clocks produced by the supplier of the railway administration. Why? Because they were trusting CFR "trade mark"!
A famous clock for the inhabitants of Bucharest, and not only, is the clock from the Nord Railway Station tower. Its three dials are well-known by all those that are passing by, more or less patchily; they all look towards it. "The legend" says that it shows the correct time for more than 50 years. But there are only a few aware of its history, there are only a few knowing that it is only a baby…clock!
The history shows that, in1933, in the Nord Railway Station has been put into operation a great station of clock supervision Siemens -Halske. It has two main pendulous (the mother-clock, hosted in one of the offices of the railway station) and not less than 180 secondary clocks (baby-clocks), among which 32 are placed outside, being installed on the platforms of all the stations in the capital: Bucharest Nord, Chitila, Bucharest Marshaling Yard, Baneasa, Obor and Filaret. Among them there are also the ones from the Nord Railway Station tower.
In 1991, the old mother-clock Siemens Halske has been replaced with two electronic stations achieved by the SPIACT company in Brasov. Retired, he presently rests at CFR Museum locate on Calea Grivitei boulevard.
The task to provide the good-operation of the two electronic stations and of the baby -clocks is due to the employees of the CT3 Section of Bucharest Rail Region. Skilled electro-mechanics are still in charge with the maintenance and the performance of their revisions nowadays - among whom misters Nicolae Cristea, Gigi Dorofteanu and Radu Eugen -, but only one of them is a clockmaker as formation - Mr. Vasile Gogescu. He has learnt the mysteries of the watchmaker handicraft at the Professional School Econom Cezarescu, from Bucharest and he has been hired at CFR on October 17, 1977, and now he is already getting ready for retirement.
We have also found out from him that the clock from the tower has a memorization mechanism for the impulses received from the main station, mechanism that starts an engine which, through an axes system and serrated wheels, shows the exact time on the three faces of the tower. And this mechanism operates perfectly. And it never needed to change any spare part!
At the beginning, the two pendulous of the mother-clock were postponed between them with 20 seconds; in the case in which the first one did not send the impulses in line, the second one was taking over the command. Each morning there was checked the postponement, which usually was no bigger than 15-20 seconds, and the clocks were adjusted. For a while, there has also existed a Czech station which was supplying the clock from inside - VUS 80, but these one was no longer operational; part of the clocks have still remained placed in various locations and they are supplied by SPIACT station.
I have also found out from Mr. Gogescu that there has been one more station - the first one built by SPIACT -, a hybrid equipment having in composition a pendulum and transistors, named among the dabs from CFR as Cuckoo Station.
The current station is still compound of two mother-clocks, the second one being a surveillance one - created in order to automatically take over the tasks of the first one, in case it gets out of order. It supplies the tower clock and the ones from the rail region buildings, from CFR Policlinic, from Witing Hospital, from the CFR Agency on Calea Grivitei boulevard and from other few locations. The clocks from the platforms of the Nord Railway Station are coordinated by another station, also built by SPIACT Brasov.
The current mechanism is electro-mechanic and operates based on the electrical impulses. In the case of power break down, the mechanism from the tower has the capacity to still memorize the electrical impulses, for almost 24 hours, and when the power is reestablished it starts operating and recovers the lost times.
"Unfortunately, sometimes, the power fluctuations lead to the impossibility of movement for the hour hands, and the clock records the time passing and, although the hour hands did not move we stay that it has fallen behind, but it is not true. The mechanism is just fine. It works…sharp! I am bothered that people say: "Oh, the clock from the railway station does not work properly!". And I am so glad that you are writing about it, that otherwise, if a thousand of people read the information that we are offering, they will spread around this information and everyone will know that this clock is working perfectly! Is there a man who arriving around the railway station, do not check the tower clock! As for me, every morning when I get to work the first thing I do is to adjust the clock calling at 958. After my leaving the company, I do not know who will do it further on; maybe the younger guys…". This was the information that Mr. Gogescu shared with us.
As we have found out, from the mother-station the impulses are sent through three translations. Each of them has four lines, which send the impulses to 5 clocks each. This is the way the instruction stipulates, yet, in reality, on each of them there are installed several clocks, because they were necessary.
The tower clock has a well-defined system, as an electrical part, as well as mechanical part: a circuit gets up to the tower clock, according to which the witness-clock (for checking) that is located in the 'clocks hall" is adjusted.
Unfortunately, the original documentation of the tower clock and of its engine does no longer exist, so that, in case of emergency, people should count on their own skills. In fact, there are not too much spare parts either, only a few secondary hands, forgotten somewhere, in a warehouse.
We have also found out from Mr. Gogescu that during the old times, while being hired, the railway employees were receiving "a table clock", the ones with big bells, and a pocket clock, with chain, that were inscribed with CFR. Those were allegedly to avoid any delay while coming to work. As far as I know, the track operators were mostly endowed with them and the cantonieri."
Another curiosity related to the tower clock, fact that has been checked by Mr. Vasile Gogesvu in his over 25 years of work within CFR: " There is no way to fall behind even with five minutes! If it could happen, someone from CFR palace or from the Rail Region would immediately make a call and would let us know. There is a "system" that works very well; when the phone starts ringing, here, I watch the witness clock to see the time… anyway, it is well known that the railway employees are very vigilant and careful with their watch!"
In year 2003 the clock from the tower of the Nord Railway Station will be 70 years old since it is measuring patiently the time! The life of a clock, as a persons life!

.. three, two, one, zero: "Happy New Year 2003!"

Silvia Mirea