# Japanese Train Leaves 20 Sec. Early. Company Apologizes



## Paul Dow (Nov 16, 2017)

The Tokyo-area Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company's Tsukuba Express was meant to leave at 9.44am on November 14. It actually left the station at 9:43:40.

The rail company boss said he was "deeply sorry" for the "severe inconvenience" they caused.

I can see why Amtrak hasn't had to issue any similar apology since many of it's trains don't run very close to schedule to be early..


Link


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## KmH (Nov 16, 2017)

If Amtrak owned a majority of the trackage it runs on, had sufficient funding to maintain the infrastructure of the trackage & rolling stock it does own, had _*way*_ _*far*_ less miles to cover and far fewer grade crossings Amtrak would probably be better able to stay close to on time.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Akihabara+Station,+1+Chome+Sotokanda,+Chiyoda-ku,+Tōkyō-to+101-0028,+Japan/Tsukuba,+Ibaraki+Prefecture,+Japan/@35.8819386,139.7869813,11z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x60188ea7e2f93329:0x158f36257ff597b1!2m2!1d139.7731143!2d35.698353!1m5!1m1!1s0x60220bebeb830b69:0x6a50beac31c4b783!2m2!1d140.0766423!2d36.0834857!5i2

The train in the article, The Tsukuba Express, has a one way run of a bit over 30 miles and has zero grade crossings according to the Wikipedia page.

Consider too the cultural differences between Japan and the good 'ole USA.


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## Green Maned Lion (Nov 16, 2017)

Running hot is a bigger issue than running late, actually. NJT frequently runs hot outbound, and it causes massive issues.


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## jis (Nov 18, 2017)

Why any intelligent person would compare what amounts to a short suburban service on an exclusive ROW, almost like a subway, to Amtrak, beats me. But I guess ... whatever ...

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## railiner (Nov 18, 2017)

I think the big issue is that it is okay if a schedule leaves late or even very late, due to numerous causes, but it is never acceptable to leave even seconds early, as that can cause a passenger to miss their train.

Although it is unreasonable to expect to board a train only seconds before an "on time" departure...

The airlines require you to be on board 5 or ten minutes before departure....cruise lines a half hour...

I think for long distance trains it should be five minutes as well. and for commuter trains, one minute...that to me sounds reasonable...


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## Green Maned Lion (Nov 18, 2017)

You should allow extra time because your watch is usually wrong; but running hot is a general no no


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## trainman74 (Nov 18, 2017)

Green Maned Lion said:


> You should allow extra time because your watch is usually wrong...


Not my Apple watch.






(Now I'm just worried about _everyone else's_ watches.)


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## Green Maned Lion (Nov 18, 2017)

The watch that matters is the conductors, which is usually set to origination stations clock, which is not always atomic linked. So your Apple Watch can be wrong. Also, although I am not playing with it at the moment, I'm pretty sure you can set it to run at an inaccurate time. My Omega Seamaster once went six months never being more than a few seconds off plus or minus.


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## railiner (Nov 18, 2017)

A lot of us now have wristwatches that are automatically calibrated by atomic clocks either from land station's, or GPS satellites that are always precisely correct....and many more of us rely on the time synced by the network provider's on our cell phones....so there is little excuse nowadays to have the 'wrong time' on our device...


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## Green Maned Lion (Nov 19, 2017)

My main watch is 50 years old, is wound up every morning, and is desperately in need of a service. I own an Apple Watch, but I never use it for checking the time. (Its on my right wrist and my watch has always been on my left).

Last time I road on NJT I had a conversation with the conductor about his watch- it was nearly identical to mine, but with a silver face instead of a champagne on- late sixties Rolex Oyster Precision. He noticed mine. *shrigs*


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## bretton88 (Nov 19, 2017)

Green Maned Lion said:


> My main watch is 50 years old, is wound up every morning, and is desperately in need of a service. I own an Apple Watch, but I never use it for checking the time. (Its on my right wrist and my watch has always been on my left).
> 
> Last time I road on NJT I had a conversation with the conductor about his watch- it was nearly identical to mine, but with a silver face instead of a champagne on- late sixties Rolex Oyster Precision. He noticed mine. *shrigs*


Wound up every morning? I'm impressed you haven't stripped it yet from all that winding.
Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk


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## railiner (Nov 19, 2017)

When I first worked for a railroad, the "standard watch" was the Hamilton 992 Railway Special, lever set, pocket watch. You had to have it cleaned, oiled, and inspected periodically by a railroad watch inspector....either a railway employee in a larger locale, or an authorized local watchmaker. In addition, at the start of each shift, you had to set it by a timetable-designated "'standard clock", which received a daily time signal from the Naval Observatory clock via Western Union. The agent had to affix a sign on the clock indicating if it was "correct", or how many seconds fast or slow...

That was when many lines were still operated by timetable and train order....train crews had to "match the dials", and coordinate their watches with someone who had set their's to the standard clock...

One of the first railroad approved wrist watches, was the Bulova Accutron, an electric watch, which used a tuning fork to regulate time...it also had a crown with a recessed ring on the back of the case, to prevent the possibility of inadvertently changing the setting, and had a standard black hands and arabic numerals on a white face for easy readability. Later on other wristwatches were certified railroad approved, including the first of the quartz models, with one second step motors.

By that time, T&TO operations were fading, and so did the watch requirements...

Nowadays, the cheapest quartz wristwatches are more accurate than the most expensive Swiss mechanical watches....


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## Bob Dylan (Nov 19, 2017)

I have my Grandfathers Hamilton 992 Railway Special ( he was a 40 year SP Hand)in a Safety Deposit Box.

My $40 Timex Digital Watch keeps very accurate time,but I still remember fondly the days when all Railroaders lived on "Railroad Time!"


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## railiner (Nov 19, 2017)

Have mine in a vault, too...I wear it only on special occasion's now, but make sure to wind it every time I visit the vault...


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## Green Maned Lion (Nov 19, 2017)

bretton88 said:


> Wound up every morning? I'm impressed you haven't stripped it yet from all that winding.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk


The Rolex Oyster Perpetual, in both Precision and Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified (a lot of text- Chronometer would suffice since all Chronometers are certified) is an automatically wound watch without a date mechanism. (Using an unborn tri-wheel rotor winding mechanism if you want more technical details)
The Rolex Oyster Precision is a three-hand dateless watch that is not Chronometer certified and is hand wound. Its main feature, beside exceptional machining of a very high grade of stainless steel, and a very precisely manufactured antishock, antimagnetic, Breguet-escapement movement, is that it is water proof, like all Rolex Oyster models.

That being Rolexs claim to fame- the first waterproof watch.

And while Im at it, there is nothing particularly accurate about a quartz movement. It is, however, much more precise, since a quartz keeps Time @ 36,768 hz and a mechanical watch does it at somewhere between 5 and 10 Hz, my Rolex being a 7Hz watch, and more modern ones 8Hz.


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## Hotblack Desiato (Nov 20, 2017)

You people and your new-fangled watches.

I've got the time written on a piece of paper.


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## railiner (Nov 20, 2017)

Hotblack Desiato said:


> You people and your new-fangled watches.
> 
> I've got the time written on a piece of paper.


Whered you get that time from, a sundial?


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## railiner (Nov 20, 2017)

Green Maned Lion said:


> bretton88 said:
> 
> 
> > Wound up every morning? I'm impressed you haven't stripped it yet from all that winding.
> ...


Nice...

Ive got a Rolex GMT Master II, with a black and red bezel that collectors refer to as the Coca-Cola edition...

Had it since 1991....


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## Bob Dylan (Nov 20, 2017)

railiner said:


> Green Maned Lion said:
> 
> 
> > bretton88 said:
> ...


Have you had it appraised? Sounds Valuable!


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## railiner (Nov 21, 2017)

Its probably worth a little more than I paid for it....

but I am not looking to sell it...I wear it frequently...


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