Gurley Railroad Compass c1860

Circa 1860 Gurley Railroad Compass

Beautiful Compass Made by the First Family of Early American Surveying Compass Makers

This is a very nice and early Gurley Railroad compass. Gurley railroad compasses are highly collectible, and early models rarely come pop up for sale. My records reflect that the Railroad Compass offered here for sale was acquired by its prior owner for $2500 at an eBay auction (the stand offered in that auction is no longer together with the compass).

The 2003 auction involving this compass described the compass as a Circa 1870 compass. That dating was based on the fact that Gurley started machine engraving instruments in the mid-1870s. The eBay seller estimated the date of the compass as circa 1870 because the compass is hand-engraved, thereby pre-dating Gurley's adoption of machine engraving in the 1870s.

Brain Aregood developed another way of dating Gurley instruments while he was researching and ultimately writing his definite Gurley dating book - "The Complete Guide to Early W.L. & E. Gurley Transits". Brian's research shows that Gurley used different dividing engines on the compass faces over the years. Since the earliest machines were fairly simple, Gurley added guide lines around the compass face to help keep the machine cuts of consistent length. According to Brian, Gurley stopped using the guide lines around 1865. The relevant page from Brian's book:

The Railroad Compass offered here has the guide lines which, according to Brian's Aregood definitive book on Gurley dating, put this instrument as 1865 or before. Since Gurley sold very few surveying instruments during the Civil Was years, I estimated the date for the Railroad Compass as circa 1860. But it could be as late as 1865 or so.

As described in Gurley's 1862 Instrument Manual, this is a large and heavy instrument. 15.5 inches long, with a 5.5 inch needle. The instrument offered here has its original box and vanes, but with no other parts included. Both levels still hold liquid.

Railroad compasses are very popular with collectors for a number of reasons. They are fairly rare for one thing. But the invention of the railroad compass shortly afterwards led to the invention of the American standard surveying transits in the 1830s. The earliest transits were essentially railroad compasses with a transiting scope added.

This is a nice and very early Railroad compass. Highly collectible.

SOLD - Email Russ