# Bailey Meter Company



## kewl dude (Jun 1, 2008)

Bailey Meter Company

Eighteen scans of a Bailey Meter sales brochure. It begins on page 5 and ends on page 22 missing pages 1-4 and I assume 23-26, so I do not know the publication date. 

Most ships I sailed had Bailey Meters, one had a Hagan board, which was very similar but worked the exact opposite of Bailey; I suppose to dodge patent infringements? 

1960 I was coal passer on the 1911-built Edmund W. Mudge 1750 HP triple and a pair of coal burning hand fired Scotch Boilers on the 3 A/E 8-12 watch. The next 5 years on the 2 A/E 12-4 watch. 1961 Wiper on the Leon Falk Jr -- ex-Winter Hill 6,600 HP T2, 1963 & 64 F/WT Joseph H Thompson – ex Marine Robin 10,000 HP C4 trooper. Hanna had the Thompson 1952 and Falk 1960 converted at Beth shipyard Key Highway yard in Baltimore. Thompson came to the Great Lakes via the Mississippi and Illinois River, while the Falk sailed up the US East Coast to Sept Isles and loaded an iron ore cargo. 

Up the St Lawrence Seaway to C & P ore dock in Cleveland. Then shifted over to the East Ninth Street pier for Christening and festivities over a four-day weekend. 1964 & 65 Oiler George M Humphrey American Shipbuilding Corp Lorain Ohio 1954. The John Sherwin was one of the first of a standard design 1953, other ships were built from the same plans including Shenango II 1958-59. 

The Humphrey vibrated so badly it was nearly impossible to handwrite back aft at sea. The cause was felt to be propeller cavitation and several things were tried including flow fins with little improvement, yet the Shenango II did not have this problem. They are 8,500 HP geared turbine and a pair of oil fired D type boilers.

1966 I was 3 A/E, my first Licensed job, on the Joe Thompson April-August when MEBA rep came aboard in Buffalo. He waved the American Flag around and showed us photocopied newspaper articles showing loaded Vietnam bound ships anchored in San Francisco Bay, unable to sail for lack of engineers. So I quit that day and ten days later was 3 A/E on Oriental Exporters later Ogden Marine 26,000 ton Columbia jumboized T2 converted to a bulk carrier, loading grain in Baltimore bound for Calicut, India.

In December when I got back I went down to my local Duluth MN USCG office, showed my license and discharges and an hour later walked out of there with a Temporary 2 A/E License.

1967 & 68 I sailed 2 A/E on my Temporary license then upgraded to a permanent 2 A/E License fall 1968. Six months later I got a Temporary 1 A/E license and sailed 1 A/E. 1970 I got my permanent 1 A/E license and sailed on it. Got my C/E license 1972; but continued to sail 1 A/E, until I quit the sea in 1976. As 1 A/E I always earned twice, sometimes as much as three times, what the C/E did and anyway I was young and energetic and not ready for a desk job. My job was on the floor plates.

Attached JoeThompson.jpg the top left picture was on the Detroit Marine Historical Society 1997 calendar it shows the Joe T backing out of Great Northern Ore Dock in Allouez WI – a suburb of Superior WI with a load of iron ore. That is a US Army Corp of Engineers suction dredge working behind her. Top right swiped from the Luke Collection up-bound light at the Soo in 1982.

The Joe T is still out there. The two bottom pictures show the Joe T today. These pictures were taken in 2000 but she is still trading looking just like this today. Bottom left entering Duluth light, bottom right leaving Duluth with a cargo.

They literally cut off the Joe T stern and narrowed it to fit in the slot. They replaced the 10,000 HP GE geared turbine and B & W straight tube boilers with diesel engines and named her Joseph H Thompson Jr. They kept the 1952 ballast management pumps and system, added a self unloader conveyor boom. This boom and the pumps are powered by diesel generators on Jr. 

Note that the 12 person crew lives in quarters in the hull, quarters that were unlicensed engine on the port side and unlicensed deck on the starboard. I lived in a starboard cabin when I was OS March-June 1961 before leaving to join the Falk in Baltimore, cabin in the port side as F/WT in 1962 & 63, and a cabin that is no longer there one deck up as 3 A/E.

Versus our crew of 37 or 39. Master, 3 Mates, Bos’n, 6 AB Wheelsmen and Watchmen, 3 OS or AB deckwatch, 3 OS = 17 deck. C/E, 4 Asst Engineers, 3 Oilers, 3 F/WT, 3 wipers = 14 engine. 6 galley + 2 more when carrying max 12 guests of the company passengers -- often college students, usually only during the pleasant summer months. 

JoeT-ExMarineRobin.jpg WW II service.

Columbia.jpg see that smoke pouring out of Columbia stack in the left picture? Ringleman9, the Ringlemann smoke chart ran from 0-6, but, often when maneuvering, especially loaded, oil fired boiler air fuel ratio got out of kilter for a few moments. We crew standing out on deck when this thick sticky hot oily smoke poured out then dived right down on us on the deck we called Ringleman 9. My real email has been ringleman9 for years.

But a properly operated and maintained Bailey combustion control system could prevent this. They were not hard to maintain. First keep everything clean, a daily wipe down of everything was smart. Keep your compressed air supply clean, dry and oil free. Lubricate all fittings on the forced draft fan dampers, combustion air dampers and jacks and other lubrication points. I used to keep a grease gun hanging next to the forced draft dampers in the fiddley. Each watch, while on their relief round each engineer, greases all fittings. It did not take much, less than one stroke, just until clean grease appears. Wiping off expelled grease with the rag in their hand. Each of my watches I would grease everything else. Ensure that your compressed air supply is clean dry and oil free. Blow down the air ac***ulator behind the board each watch, service the oil strainer at least daily. Clean or replace air filters located on the inlet of each instrument per Bailey recommendations.

Do you want three cheerful F/WT to become disgruntled employees? Fail to maintain your Bailey thermo-hydraulic feed water regulators. F/WT that need to hand check feed water level watch after watch quickly become unhappy, I know I certainly did when I was F/WT.

It was neither difficult nor time consuming, taking about an hour to charge each regulator with distilled water. No matter what you did all too quickly each charge managed somehow to leak out. Making custom vent and drain plug gaskets out of thick sheet copper and slathering them with High Temperature Permatex when assembling helped a charge to last about a month. Which when you think about it was not that bad, 24 hours a year maintenance for harmony and peace of mind. While doing it my F/WT had to hand check for those few hours, I always did it on my watch; my F/WT was used to working with me.

Greg Hayden


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## kewl dude (Jun 1, 2008)

Greg Hayden


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## kewl dude (Jun 1, 2008)

Greg Hayden


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## kewl dude (Jun 1, 2008)

Greg Hayden


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## kewl dude (Jun 1, 2008)

Greg Hayden


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## makko (Jul 20, 2006)

Great post, Greg! Nostalgia it is!
Regards,
Dave


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## spongebob (Dec 11, 2007)

Great to hear of the old Bailey Meter CO again Greg.
My first job ashore was with a New Zealand Engineering Importer and agency company called John Chambers and Son who represented Babcock and Wilcox, Bailey Meter Co, Spirax Sarco steam traps, Davidson Sirocco boiler fans and grit arrestors, Copes water level controls and Gardner Diesel engines plus many other well known engineering products.
I understand that the Chambers family was related to the Tange family of England and of beam engine, steam engine and pumping fame. 

Chambers sent me to Bailey's in Sydney on a six week service course then let me loose among the boiler houses of the country's hospitals, freezing works, dairy companies and paper mills, a tight and rapid learning curve.
After a couple of years there was a vacancy within the building with the NZ office of Babcock and I grabbed the transfer to spend most of the rest of my working life with them.
Your instruction book shots bring back memories and as you say keep the grease in the bearings of gear connected to the control drives and keep that air supply clean and dry and it was a trouble free system, best in its day. 
Reversing, accelerating,linear, proportional relays? It is all creeping back 
Foxboro was emerging as the competitor in those days.

Regards 

Bob


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## surfaceblow (Jan 16, 2008)

Greg

I also have found memory's of the old Bailey Boards along with the General Regulator and Hagan Boards. 

I can attest to having grumpy F/TW's while I was on the Mor Mac Saga I got a call from the Third Assistant on watch telling me the thing, the thing sh*t the bed. Not having any clue to what was wrong I got to the Engine Room to find out that one of the Auto Feed Valve had failed. After setting up the F/TW hand checking one of the boilers I found out the Feed Valve failed after the Third opened the Feed Valve Panel and was poking the inside levers. When I looked inside of the controller I noticed that a spring and screw was missing. On my way up the ladder I found the missing screw and spring which I put in my pocket and had a short nap. After having a quick bite I reinstalled the missing pieces in the control valve and stroked the valve before changing back to Feed Regulator. The F/TW was worried that they would have to tend the water for the duration of the trip since the Third was looking for the missing spring and screw for the rest of his watch and had just left the engine room before I returned. I never did tell any one that I had found the missing parts. 

Joe


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## Billieboy (May 18, 2009)

Bailey board was the best thing in the engine room after the six O'clock tea and toast!

Keep the drain pots empty and air filters clean, not too much oil and blow the system well before commissioning after dry dock and there would never be a problem. BP used to put the board on hand in port, which was the time that it was most needed!


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## Malky Glaister (Nov 2, 2008)

Any one remember the Bailey Boards on the Nordic Clansman and Commander?
Some of the seconds were masters at the operation as were some thirds. Some were Not. I don't remember were I fitted in! The main problem was the situation of the control air compressor. Right behind and between the two main boilers. Usually it was difficult to see the thing. Happy days!


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## Redhead6 (Oct 12, 2005)

As an old almost retired Bailey man I have read with interest the memories about the Bailey systems. Spent most of my time going from one ship to another servicing them.

Redhead


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## Redhead6 (Oct 12, 2005)

I meant to mention that I do remember the Nordic Clansman & Commander did quite a few trips on them repairing the Bailey Controls.
If I remember it was on the Commander when I was switching the Fuel control from hand to auto that I tripped the port boiler and of course we had a total blackout. I remember going very dry in the mouth and not being the most popular chap for a few days. Still, I also remember finally getting all on auto and redeemed myself. Lots of fun, and with a very congenial time in the bar later in the evening.

Bob


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## waldziu (Jun 17, 2008)

The Royal Navy's GM County Class Destroyers had Bailey controls and I was lucky to obtain my BWC on HMS Fife. I can not remember the name of the chief who was responsible for the maintenance of the controls system but it was said that he was the best of the bread and never did they fail during my time on there albiet a short one sailing the great lakes.


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