bullitt:
Hi all, got these from the Astran Newsletter, hope its ok to post them as they really belong to Astran I suppose so all credit etc to them!!!
Dont know much about the places shown etc, im sure some of the āold handsā can fill us uneducated mortals in though!!!
A bunch of trucks returning from Qatar last year! Parked in Haifa docks, Israel, waiting for a ferry to Greece, are (L to R) Jeff Huddart, Terry Foggin, Steve Pooley, Andy Blunsden and Chris Hooper
New DAFSā ā ?..didnt think they were considered up to the job??..maybe cos its new tarmac roads or something!! Rates cant be to bad though!!
Is Haifa the new way to return from the M/E??..is it cheaper or something and are there not problems with having Isreali stamps etc in your passport if travelling through the M/E??
Cheers, all.
Bullitt.
Euro liner trailers, full mudguards on drive axle, whatever is the ME transport coming too
And just look at all those spotlights !!
Maybe the Saudi policeman that used to smash them at Turayf isnt there anymore.
That lot could be any line-up at any truckstop in Europe ehā¦
GS
On another point, do any of you know what happened to Trevor Dodwells 143 Streamline, M509 WCK?
I last saw it solo on the A120 at Braintree, i know it has been sold on, but iām quite keen on finding out what happened to it where it went and whats its doing now, i would quite like to become Mr 143!
GS OVERLAND:
And just look at all those spotlights !!
Maybe the Saudi policeman that used to smash them at Turayf isnt there anymore.
That lot could be any line-up at any truckstop in Europe ehā¦
GS
Turayf and Rafha, they had those bulbs piled up on the side of the road like a Christmas tree, and the Police invariably had no laces in their shoes they were the Scruffy Bedouin type.
I was once coming home and travelling up the M1 and noticed a Police car cruising me. He would run up to the cab and then drop back. I had the snow chains hooked on the trailer chassis. Drive axle with front and back flaps. Eventually he pulled me in and came up the drivers side and said ā Where have you just come fromā I told him the Arabian Gulf, He said is that near Saudi, I said yes, he said I told my mate but he wouldnāt believe me. It appears they were arguing in the car.
Even then, you could always spot a M/E truck. I guess things have changed now.
Oh yes, I forgot about the one eyed police at Rafha, and yes those piles of bulbs on either side of the road by the police huts. !! it makes one wonder what made them tick doesnāt itā¦and yet a couple of pieces of cardboard across the bumper spots was acceptable!
Muk mafiā¦
GS
GS OVERLAND:
The first name on the road sign is for a small town called Ar Ar, it is on the TAPLine and this photo is pointing East so you would turn left to go to Iraq which is just a short drive from the turn-off, although you only went to Iraq that way on the way home!!. There was a nice little Thai restaurant at the service station at Ar Ar. Its probably a KFC or Burger King now!!
The next place Rafha was always my target after leaving Haditha unless I finished getting cleared into Saudi in the morning, then I would park up at Hafar al Batin. There was a service station at Rafha that had a great big arch, you could see it lit up from about 50 klicks away at night, and it was normally really late/early morning when I reached there, depending on what time you got into Saudi. I often used to sleep there on my big plastic woven mat and quilt on the floor next to the trailer under the stars, nice and breezyā¦The Arabs always slept in the open, so why shouldnt I.
Then the next place Dammam is right at the other end of the TAPLine, and made you realise just how much further there was to go before you turn off for Hofuf and on to Qatar. An early start the next day would ensure that you got the following morning convoy to Doha. Thats how I used to transit Saudi, and I know several blokes that would do it in āone hitāā¦some still do.
GS
I think that the towns ,or villages of Arāar and Rafha as they were then,just happened to be built up around pumping stations on the tapline.
At one time I was coming home from Dammam and was passing the Hafar al Batin junction when I spotted a Grangewoods 141 parked off the road and sitting low in the sand.
I stopped and it turned out to be Kenny Searle who had pulled off the road the previous evening and found a soft spot he couldnāt get put of,so he thought he would park up for the night and deal with the problem in the morning,enter Ian,stage right!.
We had breakast before I put my rope on him and snatched him out.But just as I was stowing my hawser,a broken wire in the rope tore my right index finger open to the bone over half itās length.
We made a bandage job,but it was a serious injury,and it was difficult driving a left ā ā ā ā ā ā with a heavily bandaged right hand,good job I was empty,once in top gear it was OK.
We made it up to Rafha where there was a medical centre at the pumping station,and in we went to see if I could get any help.No problem.There was a Jordanian male nurse who anesthetised my finger and did a proper stitching job,penicillin powder and a proper dressing.
It was a week later that we arrived at the āNationalā in Belgrade,I got a taxi to a hospital in town where they removed my stitches and redressed the wound.
As I sit here now,I can look at my finger and have an instant replay of that event over 25 years ago!
Great memories.
Hi Ian,
When you analyze the old tap line I think it must have been designed with truck drivers in mind. All the settlements were three to four hours apart, according whether you were loaded or empty, and for those guys who stopped occasionally for a brew it was good layout.
JAWS:
Well Dave it looks like this gray matter test was to hard for them but they may try again now that the Punch & Judy Show has frinished
Regards Ian
Hi Ian , we are all sat here like recoiled springs waiting for Dave and The Red Desert Fox to come out of the pub and to give us the answers.
As a last guess, I think that Daveās photo might be a diversion off the Bucherest ring road heading back from the Bogey border .
JAWS:
Well Dave it looks like this gray matter test was to hard for them but they may try again now that the Punch & Judy Show has frinished
Regards Ian
Hi Ian , we are all sat here like recoiled springs waiting for Dave and The Red Desert Fox to come out of the pub and to give us the answers.
As a last guess, I think that Daveās photo might be a diversion off the Bucherest ring road heading back from the Bogey border .
Regards Steve.
Hi Steve
I think that Dave would love to be in the Pub as he is on holiday ( I think it is a DIY Holiday )
I have been banned by Dave from taking part in this and the next one as I got the answers to both to quickly while I was talking to him.
I am not so sure that Red will get this one you may be in the same boat for the same reason but I can not tell you why untill the quiz is solved or resolved, but you are in the right Country
Best Regards
Ian
JAWS:
Well Dave it looks like this gray matter test was to hard for them but they may try again now that the Punch & Judy Show has frinished
Regards Ian
Hi Ian , we are all sat here like recoiled springs waiting for Dave and The Red Desert Fox to come out of the pub and to give us the answers.
As a last guess, I think that Daveās photo might be a diversion off the Bucherest ring road heading back from the Bogey border .
Regards Steve.
Hi Steve
I think that Dave would love to be in the Pub as he is on holiday ( I think it is a DIY Holiday )
I have been banned by Dave from taking part in this and the next one as I got the answers to both to quickly while I was talking to him.
I am not so sure that Red will get this one you may be in the same boat for the same reason but I can not tell you why untill the quiz is solved or resolved, but you are in the right Country
Best Regards
Ian
Pubā¦ maybe in 3 weeks time I think it could be the diversion taking us through Alexandria, Romaia. Bet I got it wrong again
it was good layout.
you may be in the same boat for the same reason 
maybe in 3 weeks time 
.