Ferguson Dial Sold with Custom Minute and Hour Hands
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Due to the unusual arrangement of the figures on Louis Buck Ferguson’s patented dial design, each dial was accompanied by a custom set of hour and minute hands.
The hour hand measured significantly shorter than standard hands to match the position of the small hour figures within the inner circle of the dial. The minute hand was of standard length.
To assist with accurate time telling, the hour hand was painted red to correspond with the red hour figures. In a description of the Ferguson dial published in the July 1913 issue of Railway Master Mechanic, attention is brought to the hands:
“The feature of the dial is the arrangement of the dial marking, the minutes appear in large figures on the outer circumference of the dial while the hours are shown in smaller figures on the inner dial, to further facilitate easy and accurate reading the hour figures and the hour hand are colored red.”Railway Master Mechanic, July 1913
