Lennie Humphreys rings a bell but I’m not sure where from, but I do know Johnny Britton, the nearest Volvo on the photo above was allocated to John but he only did one trip in it (in primer) and then they offered him the job as Yard Foreman and he took the job and I had the F88. It was a nice motor that too, it was one of the last ones with the chrome grill but it had an overdrive (16 Speed).
Couldn’t keep up with kenny whitbread’s though, his had a coach axle and went like the proverbial off a stick!
I went to Johns special anniversary birthday party a few years ago (I’m not saying which anniversary) and met up with a few of the old lads there. Which one is your dad? Does Plant & Engineering mean anything to you?
Sorry 143-500 I just realised I forgot to mention something about JJ. If you go to the Euro Driving Forum and look for the Topic ‘East European Service’ I have posted a picture there from when John and I went to Truckfest 2003 at Peterborough. He had a heart transplant 14 years ago and he’s still just as much of a rascal!!! Check it out!
Hi Rattlesnake Dave
I’m not so sure as your pal that SCA changed over at the Rally Route. I seem to remember the routier being very small and run by a husband, wife and daughter team. Somewhere about halfway up through France. The RR was a great big place on the top of a hill right out in the wilds. Very rocky area. Only thing I remember about it was the delicious hamburgers they sold.
Funny you should mention Hallett and Silberman, as I had a good mate (Mick Collins), left SCA and went there. He eventually surfaced once again as General Manager for TIP the trailer people. Did really well for himself. Must be retired now. One of the old school alright. Do you remember him?
I never did ME work so don’t recognise any of the names you speak of. Had lots of chances but the money and conditions never seemed worth it. All right if you were an adventurous type I suppose. That certainly wasn’t me at all. I was purely in the game for the money, nothing else. Overall, I suppose I would have to say that I disliked the game. It was just the money and the good mates that I made
Steve
The Rally Route I remember, or at least the place where SCA used to c/o over, was a very small place but I’m wondering whether it might have been part of a chain. It was on the left shortly after rejoining the old road nr Auxerre.
Where did Mick Collins work, was it TIP in Hayes?
I was the same Steve, I didn’t do any ME work either, I suppose I wish now that I had done a couple of trips (especially as I worked for P.I.E. for a couple of years) but like you, I think I earned more doing Europe. Got to see my wife and the kids a bit more often too although I did used to go away for 6 weeks at a time sometimes working for NATO. I shall be posting some pictures of that when I get time.
I did nothing but international work for 9 years (1970-79) and so inevitably you get to know a lot of good guys who helped each other out etc.
Yes, I can picture it, even after all these years. The madame and daughter were right trollops and the husband had a .22 rifle. He threatened to use it on one of the SCA men on finding him “in close attendance” with the daughter(about 14-15 years old). They had a fuel station on the oppoasite side of the road from the routier and that was where all the fun went on in the evenings. Johnny Etherington tokk the rifle off him and kept it in his cab for about a week.
Mick Collins might well have worked at Hayes. I remember that he came from that area of London.
You’re right. Much better money doing Italy or Germany that putting up with what went on on the ME runs. And, of course we saw a lot more of home. Actually I was single between 26 and 38 years old and lived with my old mum (well, I had a room there)
On SCA we did about 5 runs in 3 weeks, drop and hook both ends, before having a full week off on more or less full money.
I started my international career with SCA in 1965 when they were at Eastleigh. Very bad job then and I only lasted about a year when I moved to Eurohaul which were just starting up in Southampton. Had the first 110 Scanny to be imported into the UK (OTR 68G was the reg). Not bad job doing heavy machinery and boats to and fro the Med each week, sometimes under ■■■■■■. Moved back to SCA who had grown a lot and transferred everything to Island Row, Stepney. Heavily unionised by then and was the dream job.
Lasted there to about 1973 when they started all that silly changeover thing.Went back to the fishing in the UK and only ever did one more driving job at Russell Davies at Tilbury for abput 3 years.Liked RD a lot. Very, very well organised.Had to leave when my wife contracted breast cancer and I obviously had to be at home. She’s fine now. (My sister has had it twice and survived)
Now 65 and have been retired 5 years.Very happy with how things have worked out for me. Solvent, and spend my time fishing the beautiful lakes and rivers in Sussex.
this thread just gets better 
- do dave or steve know if it was the same john etherington who was on david croome’s back in the 80s? big old boy, will be about 60 now i suppose and came from sussex/kent somewhere?
Can’t remember where John came from. He had a brother Peter also on SCA.
Last time I saw John was bumping into him in a MSA about 1990 or '91. Had a good chat with him. He was on with MAT doing european. Yes, he was a great big old boy wasn’t he!!
hey my memory’s returning - you’re dead right steve, pete was smaller and a much quieter sort of bloke, very nice fella though
i also later worked with john when he was double manned with his new missus on murfitts in the mid 90s, doing spain/portugal/italy/sweden express
Spardo i see from your posts that you used to run for White Trux. I remember as a 14 year old in 1977 having a picture on my wall of an F88 / F89 done up for the silver jubilee that year with the grille painted as a big union jack. A really smart looking truck what a great motor to find and restore.
jj72
Yup, Pete Etherington was always the more popular of the brothers. 
John has a new wife has he? I wonder what he did with the old one 
R143-500:
Spardo i see from your posts that you used to run for White Trux. I remember as a 14 year old in 1977 having a picture on my wall of an F88 / F89 done up for the silver jubilee that year with the grille painted as a big union jack. A really smart looking truck what a great motor to find and restore.
Yes, I remember that motor, but not who drove it. This one was mine.
Salut, David.
great photo, where was that taken bottom of The Cenis at Susa? I went to Italy a few times with my dad in the late 70s he had a F89 and remember coming up the italian side of the cenis {proper climb up The Steps no dual carriageways then }and stopping at that restuarant at the top , was it called Jacks ? we got out to go and eat then my dad pointed out the turbo which was glowing a nice shade of orange
Funny thing is my wife (in the picture) and I can’t remember but have always said ‘at Aosta’. However we did use to go over Mont Cenis quite often so it is entirely possible. Does anyone else recognise the location, it is certainly the Alps?
Yes, Cenisio was something else. I sometimes had a stepframe tilt and the underrun bar would dig in the road on the hairpins. Judging by the grooves in the road I wasn’t the only one. More than once we had to stop and idle the motor on the way up to allow it to recover from a ‘brew-up’.
Never stopped at the resto, was always anxious to get a bit of cool air flowing through down the other side 
Salut, David.
David
I reckon it’s the Parking at the Autoporto in Aosta. Can’t remember what Mont Cenis looks like, either side. Never used it much.
I did once go through a tunnel into Italy called “Le Chat”. Never again though. Do you know it? Not too far from Mont Cenis as i recall.
A la prochaine
Steve
Yes, Steve, that’s what we thought but couldn’t remember for sure.
Don’t know Le Chat though 
Salut, David.
I remember going over the Mont Cenis on the day before my birthday in June (oops, nearly gave the date away) and I swear the snow was as high as the trailer either side of the road before you got to the steps. It was surreal driving through it. We had a driver on Howells and Reavell who got half way down the steps and then bottled it. They had to get an Italian driver from Turin to go and collect it.
The Tunnel Du Chat was a frightening experience right enough, it was only just wide enough for two trucks to pass and just about 4 m high on the corners. I’m not sure which was worse, going through with a left ■■■■■■ or a right. I know I lost a mirror going through there once. Mind you, the tunnels that were along the riviera when you went via ventimiglia (pre Autostrada) were a bit hairy too.What with the tunnels and the dodgy corners if you used the Grande Cornich, no wonder I’m bald. 
Nice picture of the White Trux David, I’ve been trying to enlarge it to see what shoes your wife is wearing 
(private joke)
You don’t need to Dave, open toed sandles and I was wearing clogs 
.
Used to climb the tilt to strip and rebuild in those clogs too, don’t know how I managed that and survived
The tunnels round the Riviera were a nightmare on a sunny day, blinded coming out and blinded going in 
.
Just for my information, where was/is the Tunnel du Chat?
As regards bottling on Cenis, can understand why, but I would have died before admitting I couldn’t manage any driving job 
Salut, David
David
It’s a long time ago, probably about 37 years, and I only ever went through it the once, but I seem to remember that Le Chat wasn’t that far from Cenis. Certainly, it was on that western border between Italy and France. Possibly about level with Grenoble. Dave will remember, I’m sure.
It sure was frightening. It was just hacked out of the mountain, no concrete lining. I went through during the night and had a prospective new driver with me, doing a trial trip. What he must have thought, I really don’t know as it was his first trip abroad. As we got further and further into the tunnel, I became more and more worried and was considering changing into my brown corduroy trousers (LOL).
In the end, I had him sitting on top of the cab ready to shout if we were going to hit the tunnel roof. It was that tight, truthfully, and of course we were, in those days, under TIR carnet so daren’t damage the trailer tilt because that means the seal is broken and was very serious. Luckily, we never saw another vehicle and eventually came out onto a sort of broad parking area with Italian and French customs. What a relief.
A bientot
Steve
I’ll get my old book of maps out and see if I can locate it. I know it had a horrible bar across the road ( would that have been called a gannier or something like that, David) at 4 m to make sure that you weren’t overheight, and that was nearly as frightening as the tunnel. I’ve just finished work so I’ll check it out tomorrow.
I think it was the first trip for the bottle job driver, bit of a baptism of fire sending him over there. I took a load of pictures on one trip over there but they never came out. I’m not much of a David Bailey 
Open toed sandals Eh david, Hmmmmm
Be interested to see if you can find it Dave, I’ve looked on mine and can’t.
Most of the words like gannier are to do with gloves in some way, would barriere be too obvious?
The sandals were part of her Aosta customs kit - mid high heels, tight jeans, tight sweater. I used to hide on the bunk while she went into the customs looking all innocent and the papers were stamped in minutes with no bribes involved. As Whitey used to pay whatever we booked it saved us a packet every trip. Then she used to climb behind the wheel and drive a few ks to a suitable spot to change over.
Best laugh while she was driving was in Germany when a large bumble bee flew in through the window and got caught in the folds of her wrapover skirt. She was terrified but kept her nerve and eyes on the road while I searched with my gloves on to extricate it. Well, I didn’t want to hurt it did I?
Salut, David.