Swiss Railway Clock. GX1, Leitz Summitar 50mm.

We took Mama-In-Law to the airport this evening. I was fully alert for Blip material but a bit nervous about taking photographs in the airport; the police have been in the news quite a bit this week... There weren't any signs posted and I figured that this surprise visitor to an American airport was a fairly safe subject. So here it is: the iconic Mondaine Swiss Federal Railways clock usually found in every Swiss station. I've read about it before but returned to Wiki for a refresher. The clock was designed by a Swiss engineer, Hans Hilfiker, in 1944. Since train timetables don't care about seconds, all the clocks in a station are attached electrically to a central clock that sends an impulse to update the minute hands of all the dependent clocks - well, every minute. The second hand of each clock, independent of the master clock, completes its sweep of the face in about 58.5 seconds and then stops to wait for the impulse to move the minute hand. Then it starts its next sweep. There was quite a brouhaha a few years back when Apple "borrowed" the clock face to use on the iPhone, that is without asking permission from the SBB. There were phone calls from lawyers...