Nostalgia!!

[Rikki-UK]

The world of transport has changed dramatically over the years, and characters in the industry have come and gone, and there is no one/where that is documenting the memories of those days/people.

There are many threads on TruckNet UK giving a glimpse of days and Drivers long gone. This forum will serve to enable these recollections to be easily found and added to. and it will serve as an ongoing record of achievements, disasters, tears and laughter.

It can also be used to try to contact or hear news about old workmates.
If any one finds a thread on this site they think should be in here please post a link to it and I will take a look and if I agree I will move it into here

[brit pete]

Thank you very very much this is just what the doctor ordered I am

lucky in that I have spoken to some of the people who participated in

the trail blazeing of the routes to m/e , and what a realy good read

it would be if some one could get these memories down on paper

and in print, I know that if a book was to come out it would sell

and make a profit for the investor.

[truckyboy]

Hi Pete i have often thought of writing my memoirs..but it takes a lot of time to get all the facts together..its more than just re-calling from memory..you need lots of photos and research etc to make it interesting..then theres the cost.and i havnt got the money or the time at the moment..but i would love to..maybe one day..
trucky

[KW]

Nick Garlick will be publishing a book on the M/E soon,with stories from past Astran drivers amongst others.

[jj72]

nostalgia - it ain't what it used to be

[bigjoe]

does anyone remember book about middle east drivers called cola cowboys?

i remember reading it as a kid about 20 years ago when my old man bought it for me to keep me quiet in the cab! i also remember some of the subject matter was not really suitable for a young boy but i learnt a lot!!

can't really remember much about it and if it was a good read or not, in fact i don't think i managed to finish it ( i was still in single didgits when i read it!!) but i recall it had some top pictures .

[truckyboy]

nick phoned me a while back and told me he was writing a book, also said i would get a mention, and that he had some photos of my truck when i was on astrans/Asian transport..look forward to the book coming out.

[Wheel Nut]

does anyone remember book about middle east drivers called cola cowboys?

i remember reading it as a kid about 20 years ago when my old man bought it for me to keep me quiet in the cab! i also remember some of the subject matter was not really suitable for a young boy but i learnt a lot!!

can't really remember much about it and if it was a good read or not, in fact i don't think i managed to finish it ( i was still in single didgits when i read it!!) but i recall it had some top pictures .

I should have a look in the attic tomorrow then because Cola Cowboys is fetching a lot of money on Ebay and other bookselling sites.

I think the nostalgia idea is a good one because my trucking days began with Leyland Mastiffs and F86 Volvos. There was a lot before that and I still learn from the old hands

[GS OVERLAND]

I used to have Cola Cowboys, but I lent it to Black Billy about 15 years ago and he never gave it back.
If anyone sees him, tell him I want my book back...............!!! The last I heard he had a courier firm in the windsor area.
I will have to get another copy I suppose.
I started to write a book and incorporated food in it. Its about my Doha trips and it starts with a Sunday roast at my house, before I ship out, and my favorite meal in each country that we transited on the way.
Ive put some pictures in it too from each country and some old passport pages aswell.
The book so far is really just a skeleton, and I need someone to read what ive done so far, then ask me questions, the answers will then fill out the content of the book, because as you all know, when we start to talk about particular trips, all the memories good and bad come flooding back.

[GS OVERLAND]

I thought the nostalgia forum would have generated a bit more interest than it has.!
I know that there are plenty of old hands still out there, maybe they aint sure about computers,or mobile phones.
I think that the forum is a great idea, and as I am sitting here in sunny Barbados, loads of old memories are coming back to me, places and names etc. even particular trips. I am going to try and post some of my old pics tomorrow, now that I have joined photobucket. Maybe some of you will recognise some.
GS OVERLAND.
PS Wheres Hooperman????????????

[Spardo]

I thought the nostalgia forum would have generated a bit more interest than it has.!

The reason it seems that way to you, GS, is because people tend to start specific threads when in nostalgic mode, this thread really was just the catalyst.
Plenty of old fogies posting these days, and many more joining in every week.

[GS OVERLAND]

Yeah Spardo
Good point.
It must be the Extra Old rum that I had to drink with my grilled fish that made me feel that way.

[bestbooties]

I met the author of Cola Cowboys when he was on his fact finding trip.I have not read the book,having heard it's a bit OTT.
I.ve had Nick Garlik at my house twice to collect pics and stories for his book,several other ex M/E drivers have also supplied him with info.I don't know if I'll live long enough to see the book.I think he must have enough information to write a book so big it will require some form of mechanical handling to read it!
I did however get an enquiry from a publisher asking permission to use some of my pics displayed on the toprun site,and within a couple of months received a copy of "Baghdad Trucker" hot off the press.
Every M/E driver has a book to write,and everyone would be different,there are so many stories,but it's a matter of getting it from an idea in your head into print.If you feel you have enough stories and experiences to fill a book but don't think you have what it takes to put it in writing,you need a ghost writer,or a publisher that can put your experiences down in writing,with the intention of getting it into print.
I have considered writing a book ever since I came off the M/E in '86,but with work and other things,I never had the time.
2 or 3 years ago I saw Ferdy's advert in Truck and Driver for pics of the M/E and I contacted him and submitted the pics you can now see on his site.

http://www.toprun.ch/truck/Mega_Middle-East_Run/


With enough of my pics and stories circulating via other people,I think I've saved myself the job of finding a publisher!
However,when corresponding on this BB,I shall no doubt have some long forgotten anecdotes brought to mind that I can pass on to you.

[Spardo]

Yeah Spardo
Good point.
It must be the Extra Old rum that I had to drink with my grilled fish that made me feel that way.

It's the Eau de Vie (prune, which is French for plum ) distilled by Jean-Paul from his rusty Heath Robinson steam engine look-a-like just over the river bridge for me GS.
That and the Port and Stilton that visitors bring me from time to time. Stilton is my only concession to the 'Old Country'. In everything else I am French sufficient.

[Carl]

ive just read baghdad trucker what a great book with excellant photos highly recommended read

[bestbooties]

Got to keep this Nostalgia thread going before it dries up altogether.
A couple of cards here,one for the Telex Motel,that was where all the European truckers spent a night when passing through Ankara.
The other one is for Mustafa's souvenir shop at the Oryx garage at Incirlik in southern Turkey.It was on the corner of the road leading into the Americam Air Force Base,used to get several Yanks in the restauraunt of an evening.
If you ordered something at the souvenir shop as you were heading down to Baghdad,you could pick it up on the way back,the usual thing was a chunky silver or gold bracelet cast with your name on,I've still got mine somewhere.

[bestbooties]

Think you can load timber?You don't know untill you see the way the Lebanese truckers get 30 tonnes on to go down to Saudi.They would cross the H4 desert loaded like this,but with 24 inch tyres all round and double drive,they had better traction in the sand than we had.This is at Ramtha,the crossing into Jordan from Syria.

[bestbooties]

If any of you are on the "Flash Earth" or similar satellite viewing progs.,zoom into Saudi Arabia and find these locations.

"The Mirrors" Latitude 28deg 22' 39" N
Longditude 45deg 57' 43" E

"Kaf" oasis.Latitude 31deg 23' 26"N
Longditude 37deg 29' 44"N

Turaif, Latitude 31deg 40'51" N
Longditude 38deg 40' 18" N


From Turaif you can see the new road,(as it was then)leaving town at about 8 o'clock.The original desert crossing is dead North out of town,you can see the tracks across the desert.
Turaif was the original Saudi border post until the "new road" opened,then "Haditha" became the new frontier.
You can scroll anywhere on this map to find the destinations we are talking about.If you scroll down the tapline from Turaif,you will see the only villages in hundreds of miles,A'rar and Rafha.They are little more than settlements around a pumping station on the tapline.
I don't remember there being ANY houses around "the mirrors",only the filling station on the corner,then when the new road to Riyhad opened there was a new truckstop just round the corner on the new road.But look at it now!

[GS OVERLAND]

Nice one Bestbooties
I have retraced some of my old trips using Google Earth. Beats trainspotting doesnt it.
Have you seen the new Derraa border. I bet its organised chaos when the convoy gets in there.
GS

[bestbooties]

"Flash Earth" gives you a choice of which or whos view you prefer.If you go for the one "with labels",for folks who haven't been down that way will know where we're talking about.

[GS OVERLAND]

Bestbooties
You got me all nostalgic again. ..............................................This morning on BBC World News, I saw the queue of Turk Tonkas ..........................on the road to Habur. It looks even worse nowadays.
So, this morning, after launching my ski-boats and getting my dive boat loaded and on its way ( this Caribbean business is just like transport) I locked myself in my office and got on Google Earth................I managed one hit from Zakho to Khafji, via Hafar. ( I wandered off to Kuwait and on and on...)
Then I did Al Umari to Turaiyf, via Kaf followed by Ar'Ar, and Rafha. Filled up, coffee and got going.
Have you seen the intersection at the Mirrors!! amazing. Its just like the real world now.
I was thinking about the job the other day and my mind wandered to the Phillipino tanker drivers, you would see them on the TAP Line, they used to cover the inside of their windscreens with cardboard, to keep the sun out and just have a small viewing panel to see out of. What was that all about?? No wonder they used to fall off the road!! and turn over then burst into flames.
Did you used to go the short cut on the Camel road from the TAP Line to Hofuf?? where Rick hit the Camel.
That was the truck that Dave Button had when I was on for Roy Bradford at Lawrabian. Do you remember [zb] Ralph?? killed himself when he run his transcon into a Saudi truck just before Salwha Border.
What a mess.. RIP Ralph .
GS
GS

[bestbooties]

Bestbooties
You got me all nostalgic again. ..............................................This morning on BBC World News, I saw the queue of Turk Tonkas ..........................on the road to Habur. It looks even worse nowadays.
So, this morning, after launching my ski-boats and getting my dive boat loaded and on its way ( this Caribbean business is just like transport) I locked myself in my office and got on Google Earth................I managed one hit from Zakho to Khafji, via Hafar. ( I wandered off to Kuwait and on and on...)
Then I did Al Umari to Turaiyf, via Kaf followed by Ar'Ar, and Rafha. Filled up, coffee and got going.
Have you seen the intersection at the Mirrors!! amazing. Its just like the real world now.
I was thinking about the job the other day and my mind wandered to the Phillipino tanker drivers, you would see them on the TAP Line, they used to cover the inside of their windscreens with cardboard, to keep the sun out and just have a small viewing panel to see out of. What was that all about?? No wonder they used to fall off the road!! and turn over then burst into flames.
Did you used to go the short cut on the Camel road from the TAP Line to Hofuf?? where Rick hit the Camel.
That was the truck that Dave Button had when I was on for Roy Bradford at Lawrabian. Do you remember [zb] Ralph?? killed himself when he run his transcon into a Saudi truck just before Salwha Border.
What a mess.. RIP Ralph .
GS
GS

Hi GS,
Yeah I did say that there was only the filling station on the corner at the "mirrors",then a new one round the corner after they opened the "new road".There's been some house building going on there!
That Camel road as you call it was also fairly new,I went down it a couple of times,it did cut the corner and save a few miles.
Don't remember Ralph.

The Camel road came out here somewhere didn't it?

[GS OVERLAND]

Hi Bestbooties
Yes the Camel road started at Al Wariyah I think, and came out on to the big multilane Highway just outside Hofuf. You had to go over the top of the Riyahd-Damam Highway and keep going until the big refinery, then there was a slip road near Mubarraz, which took you onto the Hofuf Highway. You had to go through Ayn Dar.
I remember one trip coming home during the Gulf War, there were loads of yanks based in the desert, Patriots and all, and in one village there were some Humvees parked up and the troops were all standig taking turns at the phone box, there was a shop advertising Burgers, and a butchers two doors along with a camels head hanging on a meat hook outside, advertising fresh meat!!
I kept going but it seemed popular with the yank soldiers.
That road was so dangerous at night, because the camels were just wandering about across the road, in the dark, I nearly hit them on a few occasions, they never had any lights on!! a bit like the Iraqi trucks and the Syrian trucks.
GS

[bestbooties]

Yeah,camels sleeping in the road on the tapline at night were a bit of a risk,as were donkeys that would stand in the middle of the road head on so you did not see them till the last minute.

[bestbooties]

This guy rolled his DAF 2600 on the way home from Teheran..........

[bestbooties]

The best time to travel down the Tapline in the summer....

[bestbooties]

An owner/driver subbing for Astran.Carrying large cable reels destination Baghdad.Just into Iraq heading for Mosul customs when the load shifted.Driver,name of Adrian Slaughter,in hospital in Baghdad,his truck into customs in Mosul.



I had come back bobtail from Mosul to look for him.

[bestbooties]

South Eastern Turkey in the early days,heading for Iraq.Big Rod driving for Pan Express in a Scania 141 in front.

[bestbooties]

Destination,Kuwait.You are not allowed to sleep in your truck in Kuwait,so our address is,The Golden Beach Hotel.

[bestbooties]

On my first trip to Saudi,I left UK without a Saudi visa and was told to "Get one on the way"By the time I got to Damascus I began to think I was leaving it a bit late,and some fellow travellers were in the same boat and said they always called in to see Sammi Sarisi in Damascus,he was the agent for most firms,English and European ,and could fix anything,for a price!Sammi sent a runner off to Beruit with a bag full of passports requiring visas.Now at this time,1975,there was a war on in Beruit,and although normally it was a few hours run each way,what with dodging bullets and waiting around for the visas,this guy was gone for 3 days!
The first night,some of us decided to spend in a hotel for a change,so we booked into the Sultan.
At breakfast the next morning,we were giving our breakfast order to the waiter,a smart,elderly gent.As each of us ordered,he repeated the order back to be sure it was correct. One guy ordered boiled eggs,and the waiter repeated his order as,"Boylecks for you sir"
The driver answered back,"No,I asked for boiled eggs,not bollix".
The waiter,not batting an eyelid replied,"Sir,after 25 years in the British Army,I do know the diference between boylecks and bollix!"
This brought the house down,we fell about laughing for half an hour or more.