Astran / Middle East Drivers

[klunk_cumbria]

Theres no need for the ■■■■■■■ on this post it has been good until now, and has put a few of the ones that are left today that did this job, it touch with each other which is a good thing.
Some of the names and photos bring back many memories, of when i did the job, as i only did it for 18 months and some of these guys did it for years, and as a 30 year old i was only a boy compared with the likes of Errol Flynn, the Hobbs brothers from south wales,Andrew Wilson Young,George ? off Falcongate,Jagjoe (Brian) and many more good men that did this hard and dangerous job.
Men died doing it please remember that.
And as for Andrew transiting Turkey in 24 hours i am sure his record was 34 hours to Zahco, which is some achievment as it was about 30 hours driving time,for me it was three days, the first day thru the border to the londra Istanbul, or the telex Ankara, the second day to Incilic, near the American airbase after Adana, then from There to Zacho Iraq with were mostly gravel roads as the pic shows.

Eastern turkish roads

Mushrooman you asked about Errol, i know he worked for Taffy Davies then Audrey on A line not sure if he worked for Duncan though

As mr141 say

How about we get back to the stories and enjoyment and leave the squabbling outside.
I’ll await the backlash of those who can’t help but bite!!!
What a bunch of children! where are the moderators?!?
What i dont understand is why every other thread on here is turning into some petty play ground type i’m better that you.
This thread is supposed to be enjoyable for those who never had the chance to do the M/E and a place where people who did can tell all us unfortunate ones what we missed out on. If it was all about being 1 up on the next driver, i’m glad i wasn’t involved. As a goor driver once said “All drivers like to make their own way”
How about we get back to the stories and enjoyment and leave the squabbling outside.
I’ll await the backlash of those who can’t help but bite!!!

s144.photobucket.com/albums/r182 … a/Daysons/

[carl]

hey fellas do any of remember a chap called ray carnwell he mainly did iran, he was from alton near uttoxeter

[mushroomman]

mushroomman:
Hi Jeff, it’s good to hear from you after all this time , it’s one of the many questions that I would ask Alan Morrey if ever I saw him again. The only time that I can recall Alan telling me about flying home was when he and Les flew home for Christmas from Istanbul on their way back from India that time. Alan and myself did fly home one Christmas from Budapest on our way back from Istanbul. Oh and there was the time that we were flying to Rhodes on holiday and Alan had forgotten his passport Bless him.
Best regards Steve.

Welcome to Trucknet ALAN NAIL IN SHOE

[mushroomman]

Hi Alan, it’s great to hear from you after so many years and I am relieved to know that you are not chauffeuring angels around . I bet this page takes you back a bit, a load of drivers having a gentlemanly discussion about who was the fastest driver to the Middle East. I never liked to get involved in discussions like that, plodders like myself were not really qualified to make a comment on the subject. It’s O.K. Alan, you only get Ballistic Teddy Bears flying through the air on this thread, if Chinnock, Thorn and Chamberlain were here it would probably be chairs and tables by now.
You might like to have a look at The Flying Foden,s thread, Old Companies From Stoke-on-Trent on page two of this forum. I am sure that you will recognise quite a few names on there, Jeff has shown some great photos that he got from
Phil Bunch. Alan I have sent you a P.M. and do you recognise this photo of Phil’s.

I think G.S. Overland’s brilliant post summed it up all in one sentence when he asked.
Did you enjoy the job ?. I think that most of us know the answer to that one.
Regards Steve.

Alan,do you by any chance recognise this 1970’s photo of a load of trucks parked up not doing the job and please dont say it’s Happy Hour on Grab A Granny night outside The Albion in Dover .

[reddesertfox]

Hey Guys
Let’s have some funnies, little stories to make us all laugh rather than fight…However I cannot confirm the accuracy of the stories but WTF…As Baker would say…

Terry Tott once called Bob Paul from Iran on Christmas day to inform him the mirror was broken, Bob replied well change the ------ thing to which Terry replied “I can’t the truck is laying on it”………

John Williams just entered Iran and pulled over to eat. Whilst having his cook up a British Reg Mercedes car pulled in having spotted the British reg truck.
The Pakistani Gentleman driver of the car approached John and said “I have been living in England and now I am returning to Pakistan” too which John spoke one word…(Good)

Andrew decided to take his friend on a trip (A school teacher or head master I think) however the truck broke down in Afghan so Andrew said to his friend “you stay with the truck and I will go to Kabul and get the parts we need. Two weeks later Andrew returned by which time his friend was well on his way to a nervous breakdown and enquired of Andrew “Where have you been” Andrew replied “I could not get the spares in Kabul and therefore had to fly to London for them”
Trust we all have a wonderful weekend…

[bullitt]

Nice to see abit of humour creeping back into the thread again, GOOD!!..keep it going.

Come on chaps, you lot must have more sand in your drivers wallets than there is on Bournemouth beach so lets hear the stories that went with it!!

I reckon that if you include the “lurkers” who read but never post then we must have may 10 -15 ex Middle East drivers on here all with a fair few years or trips under their belts. Come on chaps, lets here some more funny stuff and some more pics to.

And if like mushroom man (steve) says, you are an ex M/E driver who reads this thread (and others) but are bit reluctant to post for fear of being shot down then dont worry and jump in with both feet. After all,if you had the balls and the backbone to run overland to the M/E then surely tapping away a few memories into a computer cant be that daunting!!!..can it■■?

Also, any of the more recent Astran drivers, well subbies I suppose, have any recent pics to post or tales to tell.

How is the run now given all that is going on in the Middle East, do you get much hassle or do the llocals tend to leave you alone?

Come on lads, 24 pages, 700 odd replies and 54,500 views, its worth keeping going!!

[aidey]

Agree with you there bullitt 100% lets have some funny stuff. After all i dont know many drivers that did’t have a good sense of humor and lots of stories to gowith it.
nough fighting nough doom and gloom in the world so come on guysmake us laugh.

[trucker4067]

totally agree with last to posts

[m_amp_c_jamie]

Hi all, having been there,done it and had many T shirts I have pondered whether to reply to the posts about all the tall tales and smelly stuff that some drivers have drivers have suposedly spread about on this forum and others. I think that GS has hit the nail on the head and i agree with him. There have been tales and tall tales spoken and written about the M/E run for many years but i have always listened and enjoyed hearing other peoples stories be they true or made up.
I first started driving to the middle east in 1976 when i was employed by Frank White of Polton Mill near Edinburgh.A boss who always took his drivers side in any argument with anyone. He always came out of the office and shook his drivers hand and wished him a good and safe trip and welcomed you back on the return. not many bosses done that. We were paid a fair days wage and he expected a fair days work nothing more and nothing less.If there was an urgent delivery he would ask you to try your best for him and in that way he earned a lot of respect from his drivers. I suppose if it had not been for the revolution in Iran many of his drivers would be still with him.
I was then approached by an owner driver whom i had met whilst working for Frank his name was Don Hubbard from Gedney hill and he knew all the tricks and how to duck and dive. After a few months of doing a weekly groupage run to austria he put me back onto Baghdads for Davies Turners which i was turning round in three weeks and then a week off.the reason that i left Don was because he had a weekly groupage load to germany that he wanted to put the truck on and as this did not suit me i left.
I was then asked to come and drive for M&C transport of Tiptree again through having met the boss on my travels. So if i was such a effes control artist why did i always have hauliers wanting me to drive their trucks I rest my Case. regards Jamie.

A Scot lost in the Valley’s

[jaws]

Hi All
Mushroomman
You mentioned Dave C I saw him at the Christmas gathering, the first time since he packed up and he looks very good (a full set of railings) but he is more lively but calmer now, just goes to show the effect the long suffering Mrs J C can have.
The picture are you trying to give me nightmares I thought I had seen the last of these queue, between you and Gavin I am becoming a nervous wreck

Bullit
You asked how is the run now, The only person that I know who is still round tripping is Chris who is due home in the coming week, and I hope to speak with him, but there are still some doing sellers and others who are living and working there who would be more able to give you an accurate feel for the region, They are on this site.

Best Regards to All

Ian

[chazzer]

Roger, in an attempt to bring you back into the fold without having pistols at dawn with Colonel, do you know who has a black FH12 with Astran on the headboard as I’ve seen it twice this week coming out of Calais.
Also Redesertfox was the Tony Baker you mentioned the same person who drove for M & C along with Ray Usher?

[mushroomman]

I wonder how many hours we spent over the years waiting to load, waiting for paperwork, waiting for a ferry, waiting for a visa, waiting at a borders etc.
What did most of us do while we were waiting, get some sleep, read a book, maybe have a meal and a beer or talk to some other driver who we had never met before.
These strangers could in some instances end up becoming life long friends but what did we talk about ? very often we would talk about anything. Most of the time we would talk about the job, some times about trucks, often about women and a lot of the times about personal things that you would never even discuss with your best mate.
I met a guy once pulling for Whittles, I can’t remember his name but as it was nearly thirty years ago I think that’s understandable. It was his first trip that he was doing back down to the Middle East after a break of several months. He had stopped doing continental work while trying to save his marriage but in the end he had to accept that it was not going to workout. That night sat in a lay-by near Nis he poured his heart out to me about how upset he was about his marriage breaking down. He had only been married three years and luckily they had no kids, he had spent the last three years working night and day, week after week running down to the Middle East and making some good money. They had bought a new house and were trying to pay off most of the mortgage before they hoped to start a family.
It was only when he was home one night and had been in the local pub that he thought every body seemed different towards him and after a couple of more trips one of the locals took him to one side and told him that his wife was having an affair. He confronted her and she admitted it and confessed that it had been going on for a few months. She blamed him for not giving her enough attention and like he said, he had only spent weeks away from her so that they could be happy in the future.
I bet there are one or two drivers reading this who have spent a few hours with a total stranger and sat listening to a few sad stories but have thought he just wants somebody to share it with.
The job wasn’t always about sitting on a nice beach or having an Efes Control, we often forget about the number of marriages that broke up and the effect it had on drivers kids and other loved ones.
Meeting somebody with a sense of humour and sharing a few jokes with them was in I.M.H.O. a far better way to spend an evening.

Regards Steve.

[reddesertfox]

Morning Guys…Yes Tony Baker (God Bless him & RIP) and Ray Usher were indeed the M&C guys as Jamie will confirm.Tony previously worked for OHS but if we go even further back he was a submariner with the RN on telecoms, ear wigging on the Russians…Loads of funny stories regarding Tony but need an adult site to disclose…I supose the only give away would be to use two words “Nis Nasty”

Steve…Your posting is bang on…and in many ways M/E could be a way of escaping and for many it did cost them their marriage…albeit mine survived…

[gerry_mac]

the black motor with astrans on the headboard i believe it is gary lyons

[gs_overland]

Hi all
Here’s a bit of a story of a trip that I did with Ronny McNulty,nothing out of the ordinary but just a daily account of the trip.I hope its not too boring!
GS

I remember one trip around 1991, me and Ronnie McNulty (Shag) shipped out empty to load Italy for Doha. We ran down through Swiss. I had to go to load pipes in Milan and Ronnie had to load in Venice. We were going to get the boat from Ancona to Patra, but on our way we changed our minds and decided to save some money and transit the former republic of " Jugheadslivovicia".
So we split up at Milano and I was to meet Ronnie in Venice once I was loaded and cleared. When I got to the venice industrial estate where Ronnie was a couple of days later, he wasn’t ready so we locked the trucks up and got on a water taxi to Venice proper. (Photos to follow )

We checked into a cheap hotel and then went for a look around.

A cultural experience Rodders.

We found a bar that sold huge Steins of beer and nice thincrust Pizza. Whilst we were munching and drinking, a couple of Finnish birds turned up and we got chatting and the next thing you know it was the next morning and we were all in the same room. Ronnies bird was the “Nun”, mine wasn’t …!!!
So anyway when we got back to the trucks, his load was finished and after a couple of hours he was cleared and we were on our way to Sezana. We got out of Italy and into Slovenia without any problems, ( it was at the height of the war) but we had to head towards Hungary via Ljubijana and Maribor because the motorway to Belgrade was blockaded at the Croatian/Serbian “border” and some Turks trucks had been set on fire. One of the drivers had been killed. What a carry-on !!. When we got to the Hungarian border at Netanya in the early hours of the morning, there were loads of busses full of evacuees, all trying to get out of the war zone.
After jumping the queue as was normal in those days if you could get away with it, and nearly having a fight with a tanker driver, we entered Hungary and headed across country towards the crossroads just before Tompa .
We parked up that night at the truckstop at Kiskunhallas where the liver soup and the Schnitzel cor don bleu and some beer were just what you needed after a long hard drive… Next morning we set off early and because we couldn’t get out of Hungary into Serbia at Tompa, we were going to go into Rumo via Nadlac border and then head south and along the River Danube, then over the dam back into Yugo (Serbia) after paying the " war tax" and then a short transit and into Bulgaria through a tiny border at Bregovo.
"Do you have cassette Beatles ■■ " I was asked by one of the border guards ! No I told him but my collega has and I pointed back towards Ronnie. Once through the border it was a short drive to a place which was no more than the village square where we parked up and had a hot drink by the trailer box before hitting the sack.
The problem with parking here was that at night, they used to raid your trailer boxes and nick all the food. Alfie Foulkes and some others had also had their spare wheels stolen, so you had to sleep with one eye open !
After an early start it was a long slow punch right through Bulgy to Kapik to try and get through into Turkey and save paying the overtime and then one hit to Istanbul where we arrived in the late evening in time for chok Efes Abi …at Oktay TIR park.
The next day I had my oil changed and got the unit and trailer washed and greased, and after buying some supplies of fresh fruit we were off, to try and get to Aksaray that night.
After an uneventful run to Ankara, we pulled in at the Telex Motel for lunch, where I had my usual Haslama soup, a bowl of watery stock with a lamb hock and two halves of potato and an ice cold glass of coke. Lurvely!!! Then after checking the telex box, we set off for Aksaray. The aim was to get your police paper stamped and get past the Polis Kontrol, and then drive to Taspinar tank farm where we would park up for the night, ready for an early start after dropping your belly-tank. Most of the time it worked out ok, but sometimes the policeman would take your paper and park you up for the night with the Hungaro’s and Bulgy’s.
This night it didn’t work out and we were parked up at the TIR Kontrol, he wasn’t having any of it !! So a quick bite to eat and bed. It was about 1am.
Next morning 6am get the Polis paper back and crack on to the tank farm where the boys got on with the pleasant job of pumping out the diesel and dropping the belly tanks, while I got a full english breakfast on the go. Making sure that we accounted for the right amount of diesel !! It had been known to evaporate, even in winter, but the oil burners in musin’s workshop were always nice and warm!
We were ready to leave by about 10am and after settling up our bill
We were on our way, next stop, lunch at a great little place right on the top of Tarsus, where they cooked fresh local mountain goat on a roaring fire. You could tell it was fresh because it was still walking around the mountain edge!!!
Grilled lamb chops by the half kilo or kilo, a fresh salad and a big jug of Ayran, a watery, salty, natural yogurt drink, made from goats milk. What a fantastic lunch. I always stopped there for a bite, then it was a good punch to Cilvegozu, and bed, ready for exit Turkey, enter Arabia…
GS

[aidey]

Nice one gs Hope the second installment not too long comin.

[m_amp_c_jamie]

Tony Baker,the original animal!! who could help but like tony with his sense of humour and dirty laugh i can picture him now and smile. He often said that it took longer to clear the yard in tiptree at the end of a trip than to clear customs in dover. Mervyn King (the Boss)always done the expenses for his M/E drivers, as he reckoned that his wife could not work out all the exchange rates. This was only an excuse for him to pocket part of the running money and much time was spent in the head office which was the local pub. This pub was owned and run by the famous sports familly the Comptons and hardly ever closed The large log fire was only allowed to go out during the summer months and Tony fell asleep in front of it and in it on occasions.
When Mervyn wanted him to ship out against his wishes, he would take him down the pub and talk him round thereafter put him in his truck and when he realised where he was he was in Dover on his way out on another trip. He became great friends with Rick Ellis and spent many times at post box cottage. On one occasion they were sitting chatting and swallowing large whiskies, Tony kept breaking into the vernacular as he did, when Jullie told him that if he wanted to swear then it was allright with her as she had heard it all before. He immediatly said thank fk for that “can i ■■■■ your afghan hound”. later on that same evening Jullie found them in the back garden Tony was going round the lawn on his hands and knees after the afghan hound and Rick was having a spread axle in the cabbage patch. I always take people as i find them and not as others think of them and i always thought highly of Rick Ellis and the way that he looked after Tony during his terminal illness and this says a lot for peoples character.Tony and i had many great adventures and happy times together and i feel very privelaged to have known him and as he would say, after a deep intake of breath Whit the Fk. Rest in peace and i hope you are enjoying being a duck in the big pond in the sky. regards Jamie.

A Scot lost in the Valley’s

[reddesertfox]

Jamie….What a terrible picture your story draws of Ellis & Baker in the back garden, but so funny… What ever happened to Ray Usher, heard a story that Usher accused those two of trying to kill him back in the early 80’s when the three of them went to Um Qasir near (Basrah). Apparently Ushers A/C packed up and Ellis and Baker were giving it big licks, when they eventually pulled over south of Baghdad by a melon stall, Usher accused them of trying to kill him and was last seen with his face buried in a melon…I don’t think Usher ever forgave them…

[colin_f_whitetrans]

Hi Jamie

That story about waking up in dover was a pure classic. There was never a dull moment when you met mervyn thats for sure. Im not sure if i should ask about the end result with the afghan hound tho!

[reddesertfox]

Mmmm. The Afghan hound probably died after contracting a nasty disease…….
Jamie, do you remember the story of Tony allegedly breaking into Mervyn’s house one Sunday afternoon and went upstairs to find Mervyn in bed with his lady… Which prompted lots of WTF is happening from both sides….
Tony promptly locked himself in the wardrobe and refused to come out until Mervyn agreed to put winter tyres on the truck.