One of has the name of the Volvo wrong but I can not remember the name John gave the little DAF he had after the Volvo ■■?
I am sure we will be corrected or start a good debate
Regards
Ian
I remember him latterly with a driver on one and him driving another. The drawbar was Violet and I thought the Artic was Victoria. I dont remember what names he gave the 2500 DAF or the ERF
the erf was ERFULA. John bought the MAN for me to drive and the erf for himself, the first trip with the man it broke down continuously and i lossed all faith in it so i had the erf and john had the man to sort it out. i preferred the erf so we never swapped back.i cant remember the name of the DAF or the MAN
regards Rob
Just had a brainstorm(or the missus has hit me again) i think the DAF’s name was DAPHNE. regards Rob
the creator of the astran face book site is this guy Peter Colbourne, hope this helps, enjoying reading the stories and seeing the pics of your adventures
scotstrucker:
‘Ashley Coghill’ is truckerash off this here forum sheeplady n sorry i’v no idea who the creator or the sherriff are
Probably someone who has never been beyond Dover, or it could be the Nis Nasty writing under a pseudonym, God I do hope there is no mention of cigar tubes, otherwise it could end up being a drivers version of the Lewinsky affair.
Hi all . I would just like to know how many of the old hands ever used the West Berlin Bar. I was about 26 when i did my first M/E now 58 and retired, but went in there about 10 or 11 times before the fire . Frank was still on for Sea Route then. I suppose a few might not want to admit entering such places but i think you only come this way once so why not ? Rgds Bazz
bazz2752:
Hi all . I would just like to know how many of the old hands ever used the West Berlin Bar. I was about 26 when i did my first M/E now 58 and retired, but went in there about 10 or 11 times before the fire . Frank was still on for Sea Route then. I suppose a few might not want to admit entering such places but i think you only come this way once so why not ? Rgds Bazz
Bazz, I started in 1975 West Berlin had been closed for sometime prior to that and every body used the mo-camp or the Harem the West Berlin was history then, the cops had closed it down, by your age it had been closed for sometime prior to you starting, no insult intended Biffo
Roger! what are we doing this thread is losing the plot there must be plenty of us old hands from the m/e on here who have memories to share so lets get them out there so we can recall the past and as I read previously WE WERE SOMETHING SPECIAL we made history. I am not being romantic but the m/e would not be what it is today without those drivers who dedicated their lives to the m/e run. Regards Hughie
bazz2752:
Hi all . I would just like to know how many of the old hands ever used the West Berlin Bar. I was about 26 when i did my first M/E now 58 and retired, but went in there about 10 or 11 times before the fire . Frank was still on for Sea Route then. I suppose a few might not want to admit entering such places but i think you only come this way once so why not ? Rgds Bazz
Bazz, I started in 1975 West Berlin had been closed for sometime prior to that and every body used the mo-camp or the Harem the West Berlin was history then, the cops had closed it down, by your age it had been closed for sometime prior to you starting, no insult intended Biffo
West Berlin closed down before 1975? I started doing m/e runs in 75 and I’m sure that it was operating then. So someone told me!!
Hi Bifo The West Berlin was closed 2/3 times by the polis but was finaly finished by fire . Who do you think might have done that? what with not being able to keep it closed.The fire was in 1980 (i think) Rgds Bazz
biffo:
Roger! what are we doing this thread is losing the plot there must be plenty of us old hands from the m/e on here who have memories to share so lets get them out there so we can recall the past and as I read previously WE WERE SOMETHING SPECIAL we made history. I am not being romantic but the m/e would not be what it is today without those drivers who dedicated their lives to the m/e run. Regards Hughie
Biffo / Mr Sheen, I totally agree, the M/E job was very special, and at times challenging. I consider we were privileged to have been around in the 70’s & 80’s and been involved in making that little bit of history.
I don’t think it really required balls to do the job, I must be honest and say, I did it because it was enjoyable and in some ways a form of escapism from the mundane life in my country of origin, a little bit like joining the armed forces I guess, or running away to sea……
We were pretty much our own bosses, no log books / tacho cards to worry about, stop when we wanted, eat when we wanted, go on the pivo when we wanted. Most of the time we planned the trip to suit ourselves and the demands of the job. We knew where we wanted to be parked up the next night and if that meant doing an 18hr day we did it, if we wanted to have a day off we did it. I guess in some ways we were without discipline.
I still work in the Middle East, from choice because it suits me. In essence my job is still special and at times challenging but I never become board with it. Do I miss Europe? No…
I thought it was the heat from the engines when I disembarked from the 747 at night, but soon found out that it was not the heat of engines but the summer heat, it was still 30c+ at night.
I walked to the small dirty arrivals terminal to find customs officers speaking a language I had never heard before; there was no queue discipline, he with the longest arm was getting served first, scruffy customs officers with dirty shoes with no laces. It all felt strange. Keep moving forward looking for a friendly face to eventually see, someone holding a board with my name on it. Adnan and I travelled to the villa in the dead of night, outside there was a small hut with someone sleeping inside, it was home made from wood with a corrugated tin roof which was held in place by the odd stone. I was shown to my quarters; upon entering the room, the smell of unwashed sweaty bodies hit me. Sharing a room with three others guys was strange and something I hadn’t experienced since I was a child.
The primitive AC was made from reeds where water ran down them and an external fan blew cool air into the room, I was not comfortable with the mosquitoes, and geckos on the dirty white washed walls, I had never experienced them before.
I drifted in and out of sleep to be woken by loud voices, but the language was English. I was greeted by three experienced truckers who had been here for some time, I was a green horn who had only held my HGV license for less than a year and never been beyond the shores of the UK. This was where I had wanted to be, it was the place I had plagued my good mate to get me a Job. I had arrived in this strange land they called Saudi Arabia. I had thought I was a driver, but very quickly found out that I knew almost nothing. It was here that the adventures and changes to my life began.
God I do hope there is no mention of cigar tubes, otherwise it could end up being a drivers version of the Lewinsky affair. 
I started doing m/e runs in 75 and I’m sure that it was operating then. So someone told me!! 
