hi there Robert 1952
was the scud ex turners of soham it looks like there colours.
regards
sm1
snowman1:
hi there Robert 1952
was the scud ex turners of soham it looks like there colours.
regards
sm1
I donât know any more about it than I posted yesterday. I would say that it is very likely that it was an ex-military unit (most LHD 6x4 Scammells sold in UK were). I donât think Sohams did LHDs. Cheers. Robert 
Probably wonât hear from GS for a while, last I heard from him he was up to his elbows in a Volvo Penta engine, trying to get it ready for one of his boats for the holiday season.
JeffâŚ
David Miller:
Nice picture of Haditha Robert. That prompts some memories Iâll tell you - was rummaged there more often than the average choirboy but the best was always when we had the icecream contract on Grangewood. I have always wondered what is the exact translation of âIf you unload it, you keep it Chiefâ Always managed to get the meaning over though even without the translation!David
UCC had the contract first, about 1969, also we had the mac vitey swiss rolls to Kuwait, we could not go through Syria in those days, so we went through Iraq and Kuwait into Saudia,down the bottom end following the pipe line,with a soldier sitting next to you, and they did pen and ink, UCC were the first fridge trailers to go to that part of the world, I still talk to Ray Smith who left UCC and went on to Grangewoods. No air con in those days and we did not have sleeper cabs, but very well paid and hotels when we could get them all paid for, then of course as always happens the rates were cut the cowboys came in, cab happy,working for nothing and it finished for us.
Just a queery on the Pipe Line 
never saw a pipe from Kuwait to Saudi maybe it was underground ,I was always under the impression the Pipe Line , or Tap Line, Trans Arabian Pipe went from East to West, If not I must have taken a wrong turn,and was following the wrong pipe for over 1000klm 
Roger
All the answers are here: answers.com/topic/trans-arabian-pipeline-4
Ainât the internet wonderful?
David
Loose-wire:
Just a queery on the Pipe Line
I think he called you lot cab happy rate cutters 
Were you in the union Roger
:D:D
Yes well what can you do? Anyone who would accuse a company like Grangewood of cutting rates is on another planet.
David
Good read David, So there was some sort of Pipe from Iraq to Saudi ,but not through Kuwait ,thanks for the info,I remember Trevor Long broke down halfway up the TAP line on his way home and he pulled over on the left side of the road on a hard patch of sand and within 15mins the police were there wanting to know why he had not parked on the other side so proves they watch the Pipe ,but from what who knows.
And Newmercman whats it all got to do with Unions,and NO never been in one,
Roger
Roger, check out the UCC thread and youâll see what I mean.
I was pretty sure you werenât the union type, pretty sure you werenât a cab happy rate cutting cowboy as well, but according to our friend from UCC, youâre either one or the other
Oh sorry newmercman, I thought he was accusing me of that on the basis that UCC lost the Ice Cream job.
It is a little difficult to understand, though, why a company on that work would use day cabs and pay the drivers Hotel expenses. How many hotels (that you might want to stay in at least) do you remember on the route through Southern Turkey, Iraq to Kuwait?
I see that there is a thread on here about European restaurants so perhaps we could start one on Saudi or Iraqi Hotels. Not too many takers maybe? I do remember someone telling me that there was one in Turaif where the best beds were on the roof. Nice.
David
David, I think he was inferring that Grangewood were rate cutting cowboys. From what I gather from the UCC thread he has the worldâs sharpest Axe, heâs been grinding it since 1969
David Miller:
Oh sorry newmercman, I thought he was accusing me of that on the basis that UCC lost the Ice Cream job.It is a little difficult to understand, though, why a company on that work would use day cabs and pay the drivers Hotel expenses. How many hotels (that you might want to stay in at least) do you remember on the route through Southern Turkey, Iraq to Kuwait?
I see that there is a thread on here about European restaurants so perhaps we could start one on Saudi or Iraqi Hotels. Not too many takers maybe? I do remember someone telling me that there was one in Turaif where the best beds were on the roof. Nice.
David
OK Iâll get you started, let me think of a hotel that I would choseâ â ?
It would have to be near the end of a shift, and because Iâm not a cab happy cowboy that would be 8 or 9 hours drive at legal speed from the last place I stopped.( that would also include an hour of for a good meal with water to drink ( not wine ). It would have be a good place to stop where I could safely park the truck with $â â â million dollars of pharmaceuticals on board â â ? and then I 'd have to find another 12 or 16 to fall into place for the rest of the trip.
Iâm thinking⌠no nothing yetâŚstill nothing⌠there must be one somewhere⌠There was a place in Greece that I fancied, it looked nice, pol and all that stuff I think it was called the Feenix, but I donât think they would be happy with 4 FH and fridgesâ sitting on their fancy herring bone pavers over night with the fridge engines revving away all night. That would be good for their 4 star customers.
I could go none stop to the Harem or Londra but when I was there I would chose the truck with all my stuff that I know rather than; well Iâm sure we all know ( did they ever change the sheets ). And I donât think they would let you sleep on a Go cart track.
There was a pretty good place in Almaty, but you had to park at the rail yard which was pretty safe, but it was on the other side of the city and that didnât reopen until 8 in the morning, so by the time you got the China border they would just be closing. And Almatyâs 11 days drive from Udine.
Iâll have another think⌠⌠it must have been different back in 69⌠Iâve got nothingâŚ
JeffâŚ
> Jelliot:
> There was a pretty good place in Almaty, but you had to park at the rail yard which was pretty safe, but it was on the other side of the city and that didnât reopen until 8 in the morning, so by the time you got the China border they would just be closing. And Almatyâs 11 days drive from Udine.
Is there still freight to be had out to there?
I sometimes get tempted to get back in the saddle while Iâve still got a few yearâs health & fitness left
Hi Lads, When UCC started continental in 1969 we were flooded with people because our money was the tops. Our night out money was ÂŁ17 per night even aboard ferries, not hotel expenses as stated. We lost the work through people taking liberties out there IE filming as in Wolfs dont eat meat. The vestey family found out and it was goodbye to UCC.I was castigated by new mercman for putting the truth , IE journey work drivers moaning because they were given journeys. Read the site and just like the muppet show it was the best job, well not too bad, it wasnt very good ,it was terrible. Keep on truckin. Also the night out money was for hotels as we at first only had day cabs and the manager didnât want drivers kipping over the seats.
Not had a chance to read all the thread but Cola Cowboys is available as an e book on Kindle.
Just finished it think it cost me ÂŁ3.99
Destination Doha is available on Youtube as a two parter.
I did get to Iraq but under slightly different circumstances, still wouldnât mind hiving it a go.
Soldier z:
Not had a chance to read all the thread but Cola Cowboys is available as an e book on Kindle.
Just finished it think it cost me ÂŁ3.99
best money I have spent and excellent read. Kindle is a great device. Just added Road to Tashkent, another good read.
Cola was the best money I never spent -given to me as a gift & many years later sold on eBay for ÂŁ70! 
routier:
Soldier z:
Not had a chance to read all the thread but Cola Cowboys is available as an e book on Kindle.
Just finished it think it cost me ÂŁ3.99best money I have spent and excellent read. Kindle is a great device. Just added Road to Tashkent, another good read.
Whatâs the Road to Tashkent, I just googled it and nothing came upâ â ?
JeffâŚ
I bought my copy from a newsagent shortly after it came out. It was tucked in between the chic-lit Mills & Boon type stuff on a rack outside. Although seeing Astran trucks on the A2 in Canterbury was my initial motivator, and watching Destination Doha on TV when it was first shown was my real inspiration; Cola Cowboys was probably more responsible than anything else for my actually going off and doing it! Robert
