
Maker, Warren Telechron, Inc., Ashland, Massachusetts,
USA. Model Type C, 1926, serial no. 7. Probably
from a a location in New York, Boston or the state of California, three of the larger
locations in the US that used DC current at the time. One second compensated
pendulum (Invar). 58"h x 16"w x 12"d. Tiger oak case.
This master clock introduced in 1920 by the Telechron company shares the same cabinet
that housed the company's most successful model the Type A. This, however
is where the similarities end. Whereas the Type A was designed to work in the more
conventional and familiar electrical environment of 110 volt AC, 60 cycles, this device
was used in the few areas of the country which at the time used DC current or was in an
istallation that needed close control over their DC power supply like in a large
electrical commuter train power station. At the time this was made, the electrical grid in
the United States was not yet interconnected to a single standard as it is today. Even so,
very few areas were using the DC standard. Therefor few of these units were made. To the
best of my knowledge this is the only example extant. A discussion on how this clock operated is in section six and a short history of the Telechron company and it master clock
product line is in the page describing the Type A.
Click
on the picture to go to a page for more detail of the restoration of this clock to full
working order.



The Type C was first introduced in 1920. Yet we have a unit of serial #7 being put into
service in 1926. The Telechron company used a sequential serial numbering system on their
master clocks. The motor tag would preclude anything earlier than 1924. Given the unusual
frequency of 25 cycles and that they match up between the motor tag and the case tag it's
safe to say the motor is original. This would seem to indicate that only seven of the Type
C were produced from the introduction in 1920 through 1926, about one per year. This is in
sharp contrast to the company's highly successful Type A which by this time had a
production of somewhere around 400 and would explain the fact that there is only one
example of the Type C, while dozens of the the Type A are known.