I’ve been scivving on holiday. Yes mushroomman that restaurant did have the totem poles IIRC and yes KW the badge was white with solidarity in polish on it, dig yours out put a pic on here.
Here are some more of Kelvins pics
Foden again,
My Crusader was only a 220 and they were only ponies it was a gutless wonder, but it just kept going, one advantage was when I caught up with the others the brew was always ready 
It was also a non-sleeper when I bought it, I put the sleeper on myself. It was great meeting the ■■■■■■■■■ later on who I had met on my first trip who claimed that the Crusader would fall apart on the way down.In fact Ken Graham swa it in Saudi in about 81 still working with an arab driver and arab air-conditioning-ie. no windows 
Gavin
I was in Larkfield this morning by Astrans place and saw a nice 143 coming towards me Karl … something looked like a M/E motor, anyone know of it or have any pics.
Gavin
Your always on holiday i,m on a get slim program so some pics of rock or cakes would be nice.instead of trucks 
Roger Haywood
Found this on another truck forum, what do you think, sounds odd to me , although I never did M/E. this was 1976.
Quote from: mack on January 05, 2009, 09:24:53 AM
Hello,
you did more middle east run in that time?
You run from France or England to East? Overland or ferry?
Passed the Tahir Pass with your truck?
A good story from the trip?..
I lost virtually all my pictures when I split with the wife. The work was from England to Oman for Airwork Services who had a contract to maintain the Oman Airforce. The pay was trip money and not enough for me. I could get 350.00 pounds a week then just in Europe, that company paid 80 pounds round trip for marseilles and 90 pounds for Genoa. One guy managed 2 round trips to Genoa in a week, not me.
They did one of the first convoys into Dubai, there were a couple of Astrans going for the first time. One of them went through the surface of the salt lake - unload 25tonnes of scaffolding, pull him out and reload.
Another driver rolled up to the UAE border loaded with about 11million pounds sterling of radar equipment. They asked him for road tax at 10% of goods value, surprisingly, he did not have 1.1million sterling in his running money. He went away to think, the locals had seen what had happened and directed him back down the road to a dry wadi that was always used by locals in the same position. He did that but found himself driving in the desert accompanied by a few squadrons of Saudi tanks on manouvres. They didn’t stop him!
Like you deiseldog i did,nt do M/E so cant comment on that bit, but i was
doing Euro work in 1976. Not for £350 a week though, i was getting about a third of that. 
Heading north on the M6 yesterday morning, I passed a south bound Astran Volvo FH around Stoke, signwritten cab with plain yellow and red trailer. Good to see them still on the road. KP
hi guys
please enlighten me on the convoys into dubai never had that problem myself also dont know anything about taxes either ,customs duty was placed on loads being delivererd into Saudi you had to return to the same border to pay the tax and get your trippies back , did this happen after the gulf war or did I manage to miss it all
Roger (Rita) Haywood
Hi Again guys
I have just read the story on the driver going overland from England to the Oman I have to state I took the first load for Astran to the Oman but never got it through the border at Wadi-Gisi it was paper Mags and it had to be transhipped the invitation from the Sultan Of the Oman had one letter wrong of my Reg number and that was that.and can u tell me where the salt lake is in the UAE,and realy 11mill of radar equipment no company in England would insure that for an overland journey ,the stories get better and better
Roger(Rita)Haywood
Hi All
I spent about 6 months working internally from Qatar to UAE with my 112 “Scania Light” and I can remember being convoyed loaded back from UAE to Doha, from Sila border (Batha, Saudi side) through a part of the empty quarter section of Saudi to the border at Salwa/ Abu Samra back into Qatar, but never from Saudi to UAE, there isnt even a border anymore, you just turn right at the junction before Salwa border and head towards Batha.
In earlier times , to get to UAE you had to go into Qatar and turn right about 40k’s down the Salwa road to a small border called Sauda Natil which took you back into Saudi and then you went through some kind of salt flats and turned left to head for Sila border.
GS
hey Gs
Quite right on your post but did the salt flats as u say have a water pipe in the middle about 20 ft tall never went down there myself looked a bit boggy yes I know about the convoys through Qater also you had to park at the border to go into Doha in the later years no charging down to Doha to grab a Juice from all the fruit shops .I was with Andrew W Young one trip and he went through every fruit in the juice bar must have been about 10 pints as they were served in beer mugs great times great memories 
Roger (Rita) Haywood
When I was running to Doha, it was convoy from Abu Samra to the Doha Customs, where you would park and submit your papers and sometimes clear and tip the same day, or if not it was Hotel for the night and try again in the morningafter a breakfast of Keema and paratha in the drivers cafe in the compound.
I used to enjoy a juice in a Pint beer mug from the shop at Abu Samra, whilst waiting for the convoy. Andrew used to drink loads of them didn’t he, his guts must have been rotten. I remember when he first got his brand new 1748 Merc and had snow chains and a drum of Rotella engine oil on the bunk, because he didnt need the bed !!
I cant recall the water pipe but then again it was tarmac when I was going down to UAE through Sauda Natil.
GS
hi out there i was just wondering if anyone on here might remember my dad , his name was paul peet and he run a garage in the uae fixing british trucks… in the late 70,s.the garage was called intercell.
ive a hard back copy of "cola cowboys" god knows what its worth but i need the book written about the “whittle” boys… straight swop?
brenics77:
ive a hard back copy of "cola cowboys" god knows what its worth but i need the book written about the “whittle” boys… straight swop?
Hullo Brenics77,
Yes I would`nt mind a copy of that book as well. Do you know the correct title of it please. Thanks a lot.
Cheers, Archie.
brenics77:
ive a hard back copy of "cola cowboys" god knows what its worth but i need the book written about the “whittle” boys… straight swop?
There must be 2 volumes to that book, those who got as far as the National and those who picked up the pieces afterwards
Hi Roger, you being an old Astran hand (subbie) would probably remember my old ex Astrans scania 140 which I bought off scantrucks. It was originally a six wheeled rigid (road train?) cut down into a four wheel unit and came in the cream and brown livery and sand in the cab. Only trouble with it was the multileaf suspension on the rear it was like being kicked in the back when you hit a bump whilst solo, I think the reg was KVX 6 or 8 59P. I’ve looked through all the Astran piccies but I think it must be the only one nobody ever took a photo of although some of the regs are’nt legible but it would be interesting to see it in its original form. I did take it to Bagdad in the early eighties a couple of times, the livery had been changed to a dark blue and silver by then but I do’nt think my back could have taken any more punishment off the springs on M/E roads. In hindsight (wonderful thing that) I should have changed it to parabolic suspension which would probably have saved having to repair the gearbox mounting flange several times when it cracked due to the shaking about, If anyone has a picture of it I’d be grateful if they could post it on here please.
Charlie
i last did a trip to m/e in 1994 for astran, lost touch with everyone except gary glass and pat seal. only just began in 21st century with computers so was amazed to meet many old friends and aquaintances at reunion at daventry last xmas. has anybody seen photos of my truck? it was an f12 globetrotter a853gfa,( wasnt always, it used to be black) i sold it to alfie foukes but it came to a sticky end in syria i believe. nice to see you are doing ok g/s, think the last time we met was in doha with nick k, and you had run out of patience with podge.
just read through the previous blogs and noticed you Rita, those tanks you made for me worked out great, although i hav to admit i ran out of diesel on the tapline once because i thought it was a better deal at next pumps, after several uncomfortable hours a ■■■■■■■ gave me a lift to the previous garage (about 40 miles) and then returned me to the truck. sorry we never stayed in touch but you came off the road i heard. get to reunion next xmas, bob hedley’s wife is organising this one. regards, Gordon B.
Hey Benny
Its great to hear from u pls keep in touch regards meeting will contact Tony Somerson, Barry barnes ,and John Bruce who I speak to about every 2 weeks , next time dont be such a tight arse and fill it up :
Roger Haywood
Its been a long time Roger, great to hear from you, will definately keep in touch. I am actually back on the road, not for myself but for Edmondsons from Morecambe. Bit boring at times but nice and steady, ship sunday nights from killingholme to germany and back home for friday lunchtime. Will never be a millionaire but then its a job. I gave 11yrs to working with disadvantaged kids but the jobsworths finally got under my skin so it was back to driving. Thought i saw Mr Barnes on tv at antiques road show, recognised the ears. I went to Bob Pauls retirement do a few years ago, was a great day, surprised you were not there. Speak soon. Benny