Interesting comment - Scania versus Volvo - In my opinion they are on par having driven both on M/E. secondly a point has been raised re: the wide pages
to my relief, I was tearing my hair out trying to overcome this annoying prob: so what s the answer,
Thanks John West and freshir for your comments. Since I never had the privilege I am reliant on those that did it. It was not an easy life but most of you on this thread really liked the life and the challenges that went with it.
Johnny
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jsutherland:
Thanks for the photos. Where was the second photo taken?Sent from my Hol-U19 using Tapatalk
I think its about 110km east of Ankara on route to Tehran if my memoir is right
Thanks John
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freshir:
Interesting comment - Scania versus Volvo - In my opinion they are on par having driven both on M/E. secondly a point has been raised re: the wide pages
to my relief, I was tearing my hair out trying to overcome this annoying prob: so what s the answer,
The answer is: ask the poster of the oversize pics to edit his post, replacing the offending files with smaller ones. Pics can be shrunk using MS Paint as so:
To give:
If all the ābigā pics are shrunk, then the page will return to normal. I think.
Thank you for that! Iāve often wondered. Quite a few pages become spoilt by oversize pics. Cheers, Robert
robert1952:
Thank you for that! Iāve often wondered. Quite a few pages become spoilt by oversize pics. Cheers, Robert
Ironically, weāre on a new page anyway.
[zb]
anorak:robert1952:
Thank you for that! Iāve often wondered. Quite a few pages become spoilt by oversize pics. Cheers, RobertIronically, weāre on a new page anyway.
Now thatās another thing Iād love to be able to do: predict a page turn! For example, if Iād known the page was going to turn Iād have said nothing, to make sure your post was read by the relevant people. Likewise,
I sometimes post a request for information, only to lose the immediacy of that request because someone has (quite innocently) posted something else and precipitated a page turn. Hey, the page is still wide 
. What complicated lives we lead!
Robert
robert1952:
[zb]
anorak:robert1952:
Thank you for that! Iāve often wondered. Quite a few pages become spoilt by oversize pics. Cheers, RobertIronically, weāre on a new page anyway.
Now thatās another thing Iād love to be able to do: predict a page turn! For example, if Iād known the page was going to turn Iād have said nothing, to make sure your post was read by the relevant people. Likewise,
I sometimes post a request for information, only to lose the immediacy of that request because someone has (quite innocently) posted something else and precipitated a page turn. Hey, the page is still wide
Hi Robert
Going back to Volvo v Scania I know from my experience I started out driving a TK Bedford around the UK and then worked for Jacque Heavy Haulage driving ERF-Foden and even a Scammell Highwayman most of them powered by 120 ā ā ā ā ā ā ā engine and it was not until I started with Asian Transport that I first got to drive a Volvo [Avis hire] and then I took EJK which was my first draw-bar outfit for Asian Trspt and then TDX which was Bob Vallis old truck which latter on I bought but the comfort level and quietness compared to the British truck was like chalk to cheese and as ā ā ā ā ā ā didnāt fit a turbo at that time so the power increase was noticeable. Then later on in life hear in Australia you understand why the American trucks are so good as with KW/Mack/ White ect only make a cab and chassis and then you can select what engine/gearbox/axles you like. I know you have a lot of laws in Europe and restriction that doesnāt allow you that freedom which we have over hear. But going back to Volvo v Scania I have to come down to my favourite which is a Scania for me
JOHN HOLLAND:
robert1952:
[zb]
anorak:robert1952:
Thank you for that! Iāve often wondered. Quite a few pages become spoilt by oversize pics. Cheers, RobertIronically, weāre on a new page anyway.
Now thatās another thing Iād love to be able to do: predict a page turn! For example, if Iād known the page was going to turn Iād have said nothing, to make sure your post was read by the relevant people. Likewise,
I sometimes post a request for information, only to lose the immediacy of that request because someone has (quite innocently) posted something else and precipitated a page turn. Hey, the page is still wide
Hi Robert
Going back to Volvo v Scania I know from my experience I started out driving a TK Bedford around the UK and then worked for Jacque Heavy Haulage driving ERF-Foden and even a Scammell Highwayman most of them powered by 120 ā ā ā ā ā ā ā engine and it was not until I started with Asian Transport that I first got to drive a Volvo [Avis hire] and then I took EJK which was my first draw-bar outfit for Asian Trspt and then TDX which was Bob Vallis old truck which latter on I bought but the comfort level and quietness compared to the British truck was like chalk to cheese and as ā ā ā ā ā ā didnāt fit a turbo at that time so the power increase was noticeable. Then later on in life hear in Australia you understand why the American trucks are so good as with KW/Mack/ White ect only make a cab and chassis and then you can select what engine/gearbox/axles you like. I know you have a lot of laws in Europe and restriction that doesnāt allow you that freedom which we have over hear. But going back to Volvo v Scania I have to come down to my favourite which is a Scania for me
Thanks John! A nice bit of Astran history there. I would respectfully point out that the ERF NGC āEuropeanā (like the ones Eric Vick / Richard Read did Middle East with), had ā ā ā ā ā ā ā turbo NTC 335 engines! They also out-performed the Swedes in the 1975 Euro Test conducted by TRUCK mag in Belgium. Robert
Did Astran have an even mixture of Volvo and Scania? Were other makes also in the mix? In the film that was made about them if I remember correctly a Leyland was also in Astran colours.
Johnny
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jsutherland:
Did Astran have an even mixture of Volvo and Scania? Were other makes also in the mix? In the film that was made about them if I remember correctly a Leyland was also in Astran colours.
JohnnySent from my Hol-U19 using Tapatalk
The Leyland was only there for the film and apart from the original old truck which Bob Paul took on his first trip he only bought Scania as the Volvo were hired from Avis Truck Rental which if I remember they were 4 off. But Bob and Mike as far as I know only bought Scania. Mike Woodman always said he would have bought an English truck if he could but never did and I think Leyland put some money into making the film. I know at the time of making the film Mike said that we should get a lot of work from it but all we got was phone calls from people wonting a job or girls after lifts to which Bob Paul laugh his head off and Dave Poulton whom was part of that film got ā ā ā ā ā ā off with all the mucking around with the film crew poor old johnny William RIP had the patience of a saint. But Bob Paul had most of the say in the trucks at that time and Mike Woodman was more the sales man
We just need to keep posting. Eventually we will get on the next page 
How were visas, travel permits and trailer permits organized for you if you were on the road so much. Did you have 2 passports? I can imagine a few āinterestingā border crossings were experienced by many of you. We take it for granted nowadays in the EU driving across borders - except when heading to the UK.
I wonder if the French will follow through with their threat to put the border check back to the UK after the UK leaves the EU.
JOHN HOLLAND:
jsutherland:
Did Astran have an even mixture of Volvo and Scania? Were other makes also in the mix? In the film that was made about them if I remember correctly a Leyland was also in Astran colours.
JohnnySent from my Hol-U19 using Tapatalk
The Leyland was only there for the film and apart from the original old truck which Bob Paul took on his first trip he only bought Scania as the Volvo were hired from Avis Truck Rental which if I remember they were 4 off. But Bob and Mike as far as I know only bought Scania. Mike Woodman always said he would have bought an English truck if he could but never did and I think Leyland put some money into making the film. I know at the time of making the film Mike said that we should get a lot of work from it but all we got was phone calls from people wonting a job or girls after lifts to which Bob Paul laugh his head off and Dave Poulton whom was part of that film got ā ā ā ā ā ā off with all the mucking around with the film crew poor old johnny William RIP had the patience of a saint. But Bob Paul had most of the say in the trucks at that time and Mike Woodman was more the sales man
Thanks John Holland. I can imagine there was a fair bit of mucking about. However, i am glad the film was made. It has given people like me, who never went made it out that far, a little insight into what it was like. I am sure the trips didnāt always go as planned, but you were a rather resourceful bunch and somehow got there.
jsutherland:
We just need to keep posting. Eventually we will get on the next pageHow were visas, travel permits and trailer permits organized for you if you were on the road so much. Did you have 2 passports? I can imagine a few āinterestingā border crossings were experienced by many of you. We take it for granted nowadays in the EU driving across borders - except when heading to the UK.
I wonder if the French will follow through with their threat to put the border check back to the UK after the UK leaves the EU.
I was only briefly an Astran subbieās driver, but yes we had more than one passport. I had three at one point! The trick was to get the letters of invitation and permission lined up and then Astran would send by DHL
or whatever, your passport out to be picked up in Greece (for example). Presenting passports at Arab borders was a bit of an art because you needed to line up your exit/entry stamps to make your journey plausible!
They were no fools and you needed to keep your wits about you.
Robert
robert1952:
Now thatās another thing Iād love to be able to do: predict a page turn!
Itās 30 posts per page, I think.
Things are still wrong, even though the fat stuff is in the past. The page onto which you type your words is still over-width. Grrr. I will report it.
We also had a problem during the Iran/Iraq war that you had to use different passports for each. Swopping trailers at Kapikule after coming back from Baghdad for a Tehran load, you had to exit Turkey with one and āenterā with the other and the agent then sent it back to UK to be stamped up.
Was there a logical reason for the āentering/exitā rule? I guess it was one way of tracking truck movements. Was it a separate permit for truck and trailer?
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[zb]
anorak:robert1952:
Now thatās another thing Iād love to be able to do: predict a page turn!Itās 30 posts per page, I think.
Things are still wrong, even though the fat stuff is in the past. The page onto which you type your words is still over-width. Grrr. I will report it.
Problem solved, it seems. Thanks, site admin. people.
jsutherland:
Was there a logical reason for the āentering/exitā rule? I guess it was one way of tracking truck movements. Was it a separate permit for truck and trailer?Sent from my Hol-U19 using Tapatalk
The Turks put a seal on your fifth-wheel pull lever where the dog-clip slotted. The details of the unit and trailer were entered on your passport so neither the driver nor the truck could exit unless together. This led to some interesting scenarios when drivers abandoned their trucks, or were hijacked, or were involved in any scurrilous activities. If you did the job properly and stuck to local rules you didnāt go far wrong (in theory!). Robert