KW:
Oldtimer Trucker:
Trawling throgh the web I came across these Astran trucks. (2)
This one was featured in the Scania ad’s in Truck magazine when the 2-series was released.
That reg rings a bell…isnt that the same unit as pictured on/in the Cola Cowboys book?
Trawling throgh the web i came across these Astran trucks (3).
maybe is this wan not good?
This trailer was on Cyprus.
Maybe is this en ex track?
Salut, Oldtimer Trucker.
The beat up red & gold 143 is an old Arcese unit, that was their old colour scheme, probably being run internally now judging by the state of it.
In that pic of the 6x4 Scania with the low loader going to Kabul there’s an 89 behind it, anybody got any pics of it, or other Volvos in their colours 
I had an ex Astran truck I believe it was cut down from a rigid Reg was
KJN 671P I think was bought from Jerry Whelan here is apic of it doing Italy.
Regards Pat
does anyone has any good pics from this or other F88 / F89 in the astran colours
i want to build an scale modell 1:50 , but i don`t have a good pic as an example 
Trawling throgh the web i came across these Astran trucks (4).
Gert, like this wan?
Volvo F88
Volvo F88
Salut,Oldtimer Trucker
The Yellow Volvo with the red line is not an astran is a Yellow Dog (bulgar)
bunsen:
Just read the book A Thousand Miles From Nowhere. Andrew Wilson-Young is mentioned of the book as being the fastest driver on the M/E run.Also a true English excentric .Other info says ■■■■ Snow was the fastest on the run .Who Was the Fastest?
THE FASTEST GUY TO THE MIDDLE EAST.
The fastest guy to the Middle East, it certainly was not me.
The fastest guy through Europe, often you did not see.
I remember the fastest guy although I do not know his name
He had to go as fast as he could, I played a different game.
He never stopped at the Windmill, for a bowl of Goulash Stew.
He always drove passed the National and missed a beer or two.
He never stopped at Kavala Beach and never had a swim.
He never had time to say hello for the race he had to win.
He never went to the Mocamp, where we all stopped, for showers.
To him what was a perfect day, was when he drove 24 hours.
He never stopped at the Black Sea and help the fishermen pull in their nets.
He was impatient to know his backload so, to Ankara he had to get.
He would not stay at the Telex, to have a decent meal.
A tin of beans he used to eat as he sat behind the wheel.
I saw him once in Rumania, when he slipped off an icy road.
I helped him twice in Bulgaria, when he had a unstable load.
There were times at the Turkish border, where it always was quite manic.
because he had been there for two days, you should of seen him panic.
Once at Kapikule when, he’d been there for three days, this guy was so depressed he just, walked around in a haze.
He never walked round Istanbul, or went to the Pudding Shop.
He never strolled round Budapest for he didn’t like to stop.
Swimming in the Aegean near Izmir, now that was always a bliss. but he didn’t have time to do these things so he always gave it a miss.
I helped him once with a broken spring and I helped him change a wheel but when it was me he just drove past, now that wasn’t part of the deal.
Over taking a car in Yugo, he cut it up and gave it a jolt.
The Police were called to the accident but he said it wasn’t his fault.
He argued with the Policeman and said he would not pay,
but he did cough up in the end, and it lost him half a day.
We all knew that he took chances, he wasn’t cautious, not like me.
It would never of come as a big surprise if he had ended up round a tree.
Another driver met him, when he said he had no cash, the driver subbed him twenty pound but then he had to dash.
I remember when his diesel was frozen and his truck it would not start.
I thought, he’s going to blow a gasket, the one around his heart.
Sitting around some ones trailer box, we had made a Camion Stew, had he got time to join us, no, he had to push on through.
He was always flying around to make, an extra quid or two.
How much he spent on speeding fines, well that we never knew.
And now this guy is getting old and he thinks of those days a lot.
He dreams of doing that job again but he knows that he will not.
This time he would do it differently, knowing there’s lots of things to see.
He might take a leaf out of my book and do it just like me.
He would take time to meet the people, see the countries and make some mates.
I feel sorry for the fastest guy because ,this time he’s just to late. 
as the Fastest?
[/quote]
There wasn’t just one of these get rich quick merchants ;there were hundreds of 'em all over the place carving the job up & ending up in that big lay-by in the sky or doing the night shift in the bean factory. Everything in life has a price ticket so let 'em go & go & go.
That was the M/E in a nutshell Mushoomman,well done!
On the subject of so called “Fastest man on the Middle East”.
Some of the drivers,who worked for many firms,Astran was NOT the only firm,became legends in their own lunchtime.
To me,people like ■■■■ Snow and AWY were good M/E drivers,but so were:Jeff Ruggins,(RIP),Kenny Searle,Tony Kahn,Howard Leighton,(RIP),Ron Slater,to name but a few.
After 30 years,some of the stories of their escapades have grown to be bigger than the drivers themselves.
That earlier post about AWY doing a round trip to Baghdad from Carlisle in 10 days?NOT POSSIBLE!
When I mentioned this example to Alan Jones the other night,he chuckled.
Like myself and many others,Alan was content to keep his head down and get on with the job.Many of us back then were on trip money so there was no reason to hang around,but if you intended to do the job for any length of time,there’s no substitute for food and sleep.
As the M/E window in trucking history fades into the past,tales will live on and grow of the men and machines,and the adventures they got up to.
That’s why I am rather belatedly writing MY memoirs before my own stories grow to legendary status.I want to tell it as it was!
On the subject of so called “Fastest man on the Middle East”.
Some of the drivers,who worked for many firms,Astran was NOT the only firm,became legends in their own lunchtime.
I agree Ian, just because a guy has not got his name in a book it dosen’t mean that he didnt do the Middle East. The only time that I ever ran with Trevor Long was when Cola Cowboys had just come out and I.I.R.C. he was not very happy about the out come . I met Roger Heywood two trips later and when I asked about Trevor he said that he had finished and I never saw him again.
I took my wife with me on one trip to Istanbul and we met up with John Bruce at the Mocamp . John was on for Astran at the time and along with Peter Wall, a.k.a. Peter The Plater and Dennis from Hicks Transport South Wales, we had a great day out in the city. I was really impressed with Johns knowledge
of Istanbul, he took us over on the ferry to the Harem and showed us places that i bet are still not on the tourest trail.
We all remember some great blokes and with time we all forget some great blokes. Drivers like Peter the Plater, big Jim Smethurst, Davie Faraday, The Hobbs Brothers , Errol Flynn, Dave Chamberlain, Big Tony Gibbons, John Luckstone Paxton, Frank Brandon, Ken Corrigan, Chris Stevens, John Roberts,. With those names and there are lots more some body could write volumes. I would love to meet up with any of them and I am sure there would be stories that I have never heard before. 
Frank Brandon is that the same Frank Brandon from Bury or Rochdale who used to drive for SeaRoute Ferry out of Heywood■■?
Regards Pat
Trevor Long ( I stand to be corrected ) married an Italian girl ,lived there & drove for an Italian company.I believe he was decapitated near the Fina at ZB while walking across the road.
harry:
Trevor Long ( I stand to be corrected ) married an Italian girl ,lived there & drove for an Italian company.I believe he was decapitated near the Fina at ZB while walking across the road.
Blimey Harry, I didnt know that, that really shocked me reading that and sent a cold shiver down my spine. I was 29 when I started doing continental, a lot of the guys were in there 50s. When I hear of one of the old guys passing away, I always think ,well he had a very interesting life., but I didnt think Trevor was all that old. Thanks for that Harry,
Regards Steve.
ainacs:
Frank Brandon is that the same Frank Brandon from Bury or Rochdale who used to drive for SeaRoute Ferry out of Heywood■■?Regards Pat
Most probably Pat, Frank was from Rochdale and as you know SeaRoute had a depot in Heywood, not far away. I dont think there were two Frank Brandons, one was funny enough.
I met him once at Adana and he had an old F88 Volvo, I think it was green and rust. On the headboard it had F.B.I.
( Frank Brandon International ) we all called it the ****in Big Indian.
He had left it in the garage and told the Turk mechanic to cut the rust out of the doors and patch it up and he would be back in a couple of hours.
When he got back there was not a lot left on the cab, as the Turk misunderstood him and got carried away. Frank had to wait for another two days for him to patch it up.
Frank was a really great bloke and yet again, another unsung legend of the Middle East.
Regards Steve.
mushroomman:
harry:
Trevor Long ( I stand to be corrected ) married an Italian girl ,lived there & drove for an Italian company.I believe he was decapitated near the Fina at ZB while walking across the road.Blimey Harry, I didnt know that, that really shocked me reading that and sent a cold shiver down my spine. I was 29 when I started doing continental, a lot of the guys were in there 50s. When I hear of one of the old guys passing away, I always think ,well he had a very interesting life., but I didnt think Trevor was all that old. Thanks for that Harry,
Regards Steve.
Trevor Long would have been about my age.I started M/E when I was 30 and finished at 42,I’m now 64.
mushroomman The Trevor I am talking about was a tall ,slim ,( Londoner ? ) The accident around 30 years ago .The story had another twist ; I think Trevor was living with the girl in Italy but had an estranged wife in UK .The upshot was they both claimed his body for burial in their respective countries. I don’t know who won…?
harry:
mushroomman The Trevor I am talking about was a tall ,slim ,( Londoner ? ) The accident around 30 years ago .The story had another twist ; I think Trevor was living with the girl in Italy but had an estranged wife in UK .The upshot was they both claimed his body for burial in their respective countries. I don’t know who won…?
Harry ,
the Trevor Long I was refering to was the one in Cola Cowboys and in about 1980/1 I think he would of been in his earl y 30s.
By the way Harry, are you the Harry who can improve old pictures ?, only I have got a couple of old pics that I would like to post but they seem a bit dark.
Regards Steve.
Trawling throgh the web i came across these Astran trucks (5).
Scania 141
Volvo F12
Volvo F12
Volvo F12
Volvo F88 & Scania 141
Next by en Scania 141
Salut, Oldtimer Trucker.
Trawling throgh the web i came across these Astran trucks (6).
Subcontractors by Astran.
Volvo F88
Volvo F88
Volvo F88
Scania 113M 360
Ford Transcontinital
Iveco Eurotech
Salut, Oldtimer Trucker.
