swayze1:
THATS IT J MAC XMAS OVER PRESSIES OPENEND ALREADY
Not at all !! itāll be wrapped an put under the tree and think when i open it thats a nice book from the kids how did they know to buy this !!! (old age you see)
j-mac
Not at all !! itāll be wrapped an put under the tree and think when i open it thats a nice book from the kids how did they know to buy this !!! (old age you see)
j-mac
[/quote]
Hullo J-mac,
I donāt suppose by any chance you would be the same bloke I knew by that name eh? Have you any connections with MAT, or Raynors, or Clarice.( r.i.p.)?
Cheers, Archie.
Fraid not Archie used to drive for freight-co in glasgow before re-training to become airport fire-fighter 
j-mac
Ash, itās my birthday today 24th and guess what I got, brilliant, canāt put it down. well done, now we need another to fill in all the other companies that went there.
Dieseldogsix:
Ash, itās my birthday today 24th and guess what I got, brilliant, canāt put it down. well done, now we need another to fill in all the other companies that went there.
hi cliff,
happy birthday mate and have a great christmas.you are right about ashās book,itās awesome .
regards andrew
Hi all; I am very proud to say that we have now sold over 4.000 copies of āThe Long Haul Pioneersā since publication in June!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have bought a copy (or more) and taken the time to write some fantastic reviews and comments about the book. I am very grateful indeed.
I am totally humbled to have met and befriended the āold handsā of Asian/Astran and it is them who deserve the praise for thier amazing photographs, anecdotes and stories. I was just the guy who had the difficult job of putting it all together.
That said; I am thrilled with how the book has been received throughout the transport industry and beyond.
The latest edition of Commercial Motor is carrying a Middle East feature and here is a preview of the coverā¦
May I wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year and for those of you who have not āopenedā the book yet, may I suggest you find a very quiet and secluded corner where you wontā be āfoundā for a whileā¦ ENJOY!
All the very best to you all; ASH
truckerash:
Hi all; I am very proud to say that we have now sold over 4.000 copies of āThe Long Haul Pioneersā since publication in June!I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have bought a copy (or more) and taken the time to write some fantastic reviews and comments about the book. I am very grateful indeed.
I am totally humbled to have met and befriended the āold handsā of Asian/Astran and it is them who deserve the praise for thier amazing photographs, anecdotes and stories. I was just the guy who had the difficult job of putting it all together.
That said; I am thrilled with how the book has been received throughout the transport industry and beyond.
The latest edition of Commercial Motor is carrying a Middle East feature and here is a preview of the coverā¦
May I wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year and for those of you who have not āopenedā the book yet, may I suggest you find a very quiet and secluded corner where you wontā be āfoundā for a whileā¦ ENJOY!
All the very best to you all; ASH
Just surfaced since opening my presents !!!
Fantastic reading
Just about to start on next prezzie One Cola cowboys !!!
Well done Ash proper job Whats next ā ā ?
Just wanted to say thanks Ashley for a geat book,Iāve been meaning to write on the thread since June, I had pre ordered my copy & finished reading it within 5 days of receipt! It has pride of place on my bookshelf now,next to Cola Cowboys & Juggernaut. You should be very proud of yourself Ash as it must be one of the best,if not THE best book of itās genre ever. I know you write on the Southampton thread occasionally to Mappo & Ainacs amongst others & believe you me having had the pleasure of working/running with these lads during my Europe only career thereās a good book there waiting for an accomplished author,I wish I had your patience,skill & dedication to write it,lol! Thanks again & I look forward to reading anything else you write. Cheers & all the best for 2012!
FLIP:
Just wanted to say thanks Ashley for a geat book,Iāve been meaning to write on the thread since June, I had pre ordered my copy & finished reading it within 5 days of receipt! It has pride of place on my bookshelf now,next to Cola Cowboys & Juggernaut. You should be very proud of yourself Ash as it must be one of the best,if not THE best book of itās genre ever. I know you write on the Southampton thread occasionally to Mappo & Ainacs amongst others & believe you me having had the pleasure of working/running with these lads during my Europe only career thereās a good book there waiting for an accomplished author,I wish I had your patience,skill & dedication to write it,lol! Thanks again & I look forward to reading anything else you write. Cheers & all the best for 2012!
Hullo! Hullo!
Bloody hell, doesānt time Fly eh ? 2012 ā ā
amazin book pal havin trouble puttin it down.
well done ash santa has brought me my copy nearly read it brilliant read,only ever got as far as greece myself i would love to have done one of them trips,i used to work for a chap who used to do kazakstan for gilder wish i had done one of them,there must be a book in the trips out there aswell
Archie Paice:
Hullo! Hullo!
Bloody hell, doesānt time Fly eh ? 2012 ā ā
Nobody else has noticed yet Archie, I thought Iād āslept inā for a year!! 
Ross. 
Ash, my herself bought me the book for Christmas, and I have to tell you that Iām now permamnently tired, as I donāt have time to read it during the day, so the bl**dy thing is keeping me up half the night! I cannot put it down and fall asleep reading it. Still, only another 80 pages to go. Trouble is, I might have to start again!
Very well done.
Emmerson
Question for Ash or any of the Astran boys. Looking at the fleet list I noticed they had 140ās and 142ās, but why no 141ās?
Dieseldogsix:
Question for Ash or any of the Astran boys. Looking at the fleet list I noticed they had 140ās and 142ās, but why no 141ās?
Bob Paul told me that the P reg 140ās were the last ā1 seriesā big motors that he bought but they were not quite as reliable as perhaps they could have been. At the time (mid 70ās) the company was finding times hard and put a block on buying ābigā expensive motors. Instead Bob purchased the smaller 111ās which proved very relaible and importantly, economical comapred to the thirsty V8ās. The 111ās stayed in service until the Mercās arrived. When Scania introduced the 142ās, Bob was offered 3 at a very resonable price to get the Swedish marque back into the Astran fleet, so he āgave it a goā and went back to V8ās. The 142ās were the last vehicles that Bob purchased before he closed the transport department down. Hope that helps. Ash.
this book was a present from my son for xmas i can not put it down but it make me feel old looking at it seeing john frost
who i have had a few meals with 28 years ago in france when working for roba and john doing the swiss trunk
Hiyaā¦Thanks Ashleyā¦santa got to know i wanted a copy,i opened it 2nd Jan closed it 7th jan brill.
I have a AEC MM6 and don,t know how you could go that far with the AEC amount of comfortā¦Phew
thanks again
John
Hi, Just been given book for birthday, Canāt put it down. Never done ME only Europe in late 80ās early 90;s. Canāt help feeling i missed a trick there.
welldone mate real drivers EAT YA HEART OUT STOBBARTS
Hi Ashā¦ I have just re read your book ā¦ fantastic read ā¦ i have watched the film a few times ā¦ How many drivers out there would love go back to those times lol ā¦ yes they was hard time hot in the summer cold in the winter, but no big brother looking over your shoulder lol ā¦ can you answer my question with regards to Chris Hooperā¦ why there was not more wrote about himā¦ i have meet him a few tomes and he came across as a great bloke ā¦As i said mate great read ā¦