robert1952:
Not Astran, I know, but do any of you old lags recognise this street? I showed this picture to Chris Till, who drove the other Eric Vick ERF NGC and he thought it might be in a side street in Baghdad near the Opera Hotel and British Club. Any ideas? Robert
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Wasn’t there a nightclub next to the British Club? The Moulin Rouge? I remember meeting one of the dancers in the British Club Jan 1979 when I did a Baghdad in a white Fiat belonging to Chris Taylor of Star Transport, Crowborough (owner driver). Chris was mighty upset that she seemed to prefer me…
The nearest nightclub to the British Club in Baghdad was called The Ambassador about a 5 minute taxi ride from the British Club. I used to sit on the veranda of the bar in the Al-Abbassi Palace Hotel on Al Sadoun street and traffic spot. (1979 to spring 1980) and used Candles restaurant a few yards up the road. Jim.
What’s the score with the Syrian drivers stuck with nowhere to call home Gavin? Are they allowed to mooch around wherever they can get a load, or are there cabotage regs?
newmercman:
What’s the score with the Syrian drivers stuck with nowhere to call home Gavin? Are they allowed to mooch around wherever they can get a load, or are there cabotage regs?
Hello mate.
How are ya ?
Most of the Syrian drivers are driving Kuwaiti reg trucks and they load from wherever to wherever down this way, i.e. Qatar to Dubai or Oman, then maybe UAE to Saudi then Saudi back to Qatar… but they seem to spend a lot of time just parked up. I did it for about six months during the early nineties in my GB reg 112, all you needed was triptiks and a multi entry Saudi Visa. nothing has changed but I think it has become difficult for Syrian drivers to get the Saudi Visa so maybe thats why that fellah is where he is. If I get a chance I will stop for a chai and a puff on his shisha and find out.
GS
Old habits die hard Jeff, that’s actually a photo of young Gavin when he started off weekending in Dover. The boy from The Smoke done good, he worked hard, kept his head down and probably sold that bacon roll to Mr Mackie. I did hear that Richard Branson often pops round to his house to borrow a cup of sugar.
Teherani:
How many of y’all remember what this, is and where is it?
Ali Baba roundabout in Sadoon Street, Baghdad. I sometimes stayed at the Adam down the road when I took freight to the Baghdad expo.
I remember that someone had spilled heating oil (not a dribble but REALLY spilled - gallons and gallons of diesel) in the foyer and that we had to hold our breath fetching our room keys because the diesel fumes in the heat were just too terrible. Poor old Abdul had to stand all day breathing in the fumes…
Having a meal at the Adam one day with my boss, Peter Calderwood of Promotor, I saw a huge rat as long as your arm go under the table opposite where a group of Austrians were eating. Peter scoffed when I told him I’d seen a giant rat and when the waiter came over he asked him “Are there rats in this restaurant?” The waiter said “No, no. Only little kittens. Lovely fluffy kittens”. At that moment the entire table of Austrians leaped to their feet with chairs crashing backways and the rat slowly headed towards the staircase and went at leisurely pace up the steps…
Teherani:
The guy with towel over his head is John (I wanna say McFall), but I’m probably wrong. He drove for ProMotor, a real nice guy and comical.
Probably John Preece. Always entertaining. Mind you he had terrible nightmares and would scream like a banshee in the middle of the night. At promotors we were used to it but people who weren’t in the know stayed in their cabs in mortal fear thinking someone was being brutally murdered… He went to live in Australia last I’d heard
PanX:
Having been out of this strange, sometimes surreal but compelling job, because that is what it is, the experiences of, drivers, trucking firms and companies and the Middle East job iteself for such a long time, I am staggered and saddened by the names that I see on here that have passed on. Posts on here from back in the day, when you say to yourself… I remember him…a good bloke or I wonder what so and so is doing now. We’re all a lot older…but lest we forget.
Does anyone remember a guy who was on for Eric Vic’s he hadn’t been out of the para’s very long.( circa 1980) We were all waiting in a seething mass of people waving paperwork in 40 degrees in Habur. There was a sign…“NO NOISEY” and “KEEP OUT THE DIRTY” (not sure what that was about). Everyone was pushing and shoving to get to the front. There was a Bulgarian /Turkish chap who tried to push in front of us all, after a brief conversation and a swift left hook, order was restored. Oh and a few people dragged off a Bugarian/Turkish driver to the back of the queue. Funny how everyone was happy to stand in the queue after that.
I haven’t found my round this site properly yet, but it would be nice to see a reference to all who did the middle east job, and have now passed on to be recognised in a role of honour.
Mick…
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Thought that sign at Habur said PREVENT THE DIRTY !!!
I remember Habur well; “STOP THE NOISEY” and “PREVENT THE DIRTY” neither of which notices apparently had any effect on the assemblage. Then out into the carpark queue and squeeze through the mass of jostling trucks with everyone in a bad temper having waited days and days. I think I had waited 3 or 4 days one year in a queue from the far side of Silopi going towards Baghdad. Grim.
A Turkish soldier was stopping the queue going through the town of Silopi. I joshed with him and I took a few photos as he pointed his gun at me… Then a bit later he got into an argument with a Tonka driver and whacked the driver round the head with his rifle ■■■■ and knocked him out and started putting the boot in while the poor fellow was on the ground… Really brutal, I was quite shocked watching and then he came back to me and demanded my camera. Well I wasn’t going to give to him and I started shouting at him as aggressively as I could (all 5’ 6" of me) to make him understand that I wasn’t having any nonsense… Happily for me - because he was getting really nasty - an army jeep turned up just in time - and he was driven away… I was rather grateful that it arrived.
One night later as I slowly edged closer to Habur during the night 3 Austrian trucks went flying past in the dark flat out… People in the queue were stoning them as they drove past. Next morning as the queue slowly moved forward we saw the three Austrian trucks at the side of the road with every bit of glass gone, windscreen, side windows, headlights, and every panel dented. No sign of the drivers. Mind you typical that it was Austrians trying to jump the queue. I often wondered what had happened to them. I can’t help thinking they might have been badly beaten or worse. After 3 or 4 days queuing in the 40 degrees heat and having to stay awake to edge forward every 15 minutes tempers are very frayed indeed.
Somewhere I have the photos but the T&S has tidied everything of mine so I can’t find anything.
380streamline:
TDX 400K - What happened to it? Any replies welcome!
Truckerash will know!
Meanwhile, there’s a new Middle-East gallery (not Astran) on the Toprun website well worth a visit - a mixture of old and new pics but all great. Cheers, Robert
