Middle East - Not Astran!

[bestbooties]

Guesty44:

Guesty44:

Guesty44:

David Miller:
How can you say such a thing Jazzandy? Not Astran? When so many believe that there was ONLY Astran!

Here is a good picture of a non-Astran subbie. You see what happens if you are not pulling for the King?

David

3

This is before it was dumped when it broke down.

I like that quote at the bottom of the pic, “H4 follow the oil drums to Saudi Arabia”. The secret was, to find the FIRST one!
Of the many times I crossed I only found the drums a few times, and after following several so called “Old sweats” on occasions and spending hours digging, I went on my own and had much less trouble. One of the memorable trips was meeting up with Sean Moran who advised a group of us English and Cloggies to follow him.
Never seen so many trucks bogged down or shovelled so much sand in my life, that was when I decided that in future I would do it on my own and only have myself to blame if I came to grief.

[oldishjoda]

robert1952:
Just trying to remember when 13.6m standard trailers replaced 12.00m trailers (ie overall artic length changed from 15m to 16.5. The year 1983 sticks in my mind (or was that when 38-tonne weight limit replaced 32t?). Robert

Try this… lol

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longer_Heavier_Vehicle

[robert1952]

OldishJoda:

robert1952:
Just trying to remember when 13.6m standard trailers replaced 12.00m trailers (ie overall artic length changed from 15m to 16.5. The year 1983 sticks in my mind (or was that when 38-tonne weight limit replaced 32t?). Robert

Try this… lol

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longer_Heavier_Vehicle

None the wiser! Robert

[archie_paice]

robert1952:

OldishJoda:

robert1952:
Just trying to remember when 13.6m standard trailers replaced 12.00m trailers (ie overall artic length changed from 15m to 16.5. The year 1983 sticks in my mind (or was that when 38-tonne weight limit replaced 32t?). Robert

Try this… lol

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longer_Heavier_Vehicle

None the wiser! Robert

The change from 12m (40ft) to 13.6m (45ft) was brought in on January 1991. But nobody paid you any extra, I was doing Groupage loads for Frans Mass at that time, still on the same rate.

[jelliot]

I did a bit of M/E in the 90’s for Trans Mondo out of Udine. Series 1 FH fridges or Cardi tilt. Out through Ancona, Greece, Ipsallaha They were still doing a bit of motorway building in Turkey at the time, the usual Syrian convoys and over night in Homs… Some times used Bab-Al-Hawa, Cilvegozu…Border crossings looked like someone had thrown some tar on a bomb site. It was tempting to bung the border guard so we could get round the convoy, but the company wouldn’t go for that…Haditha into Saudi usually a couple of hours if all went right… We used an agent by the name of Dummy… can’t remember the border though… Muscat was the end of the line usually a couple of days to get sorted out and turned round…

If you ask most people what they regret most in life, you usually find it’s not what they did, it’s what they didn’t do… For various reasons I never took any photos of the truck at the time… but here’s one that I’ve made earlier.

Some of the Iranain crew…

Parked up near Aksaray

Long before Astran, these guys were doing Iran Germany…

Jeff…

[robert1952]

Archie Paice:

robert1952:

OldishJoda:

robert1952:
Just trying to remember when 13.6m standard trailers replaced 12.00m trailers (ie overall artic length changed from 15m to 16.5. The year 1983 sticks in my mind (or was that when 38-tonne weight limit replaced 32t?). Robert

Try this… lol

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longer_Heavier_Vehicle

None the wiser! Robert

The change from 12m (40ft) to 13.6m (45ft) was brought in on January 1991. But nobody paid you any extra, I was doing Groupage loads for Frans Mass at that time, still on the same rate.

Thanks Archie! Your’e a gem. I’ve got a couple of little 1:87 dioramas on the go and I want to get the periods right. Cheers. Robert

[tiptop495]

Hey, as the weights and lenghts change the rates don’t Always go up. And don’t forget the height in the beginning of the '80’s nice for fuel consumption.
But you have to invest in new equipement. And not only the trailers but our tractors weren’t allowed for 44 tonnes in '83.
In France it was accepted but not here

Eric,

[tiptop495]

robert1952:

Archie Paice:

robert1952:

OldishJoda:

robert1952:
Just trying to remember when 13.6m standard trailers replaced 12.00m trailers (ie overall artic length changed from 15m to 16.5. The year 1983 sticks in my mind (or was that when 38-tonne weight limit replaced 32t?). Robert

Try this… lol

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longer_Heavier_Vehicle

None the wiser! Robert

The change from 12m (40ft) to 13.6m (45ft) was brought in on January 1991. But nobody paid you any extra, I was doing Groupage loads for Frans Mass at that time, still on the same rate.

Thanks Archie! Your’e a gem. I’ve got a couple of little 1:87 dioramas on the go and I want to get the periods right. Cheers. Robert

Hey, don’t worry you haven’t to pas a VOSA control. Once we came back from Gaydon and at the port we had to take the freight lane with our lot of maquettes years ago.

Eric,

[jimski]

Hi Jazzandy sent you PM after 4 attempts hope you got it this time !! ( sorry Guys about messaging on here )
R Jimski.

[saviem]

Evening all, long old day digging out the ditches, as the monsoon season has now arrived. Saw this thread yesterday, super idea Jazzandy, as there must have been a fair few involved in this traffic over the 70s/80s period. Some fairly big, others smaller, some honest, some rather less so! But all now part of the history of the period, and worth remembering.

How about a few lines about your old company OHS?

John, Cartwright Transport was based on Willenhall Road, Chillington Fields Wolverhampton. Run by Alan Taylor, grew to around 100 vehicles. Alan ran some of his Scania 110s down to the Gulf, as well as the Magirus units. Trying to remember where those Magirus`s came from. Next time we eat in his resteraunt I will ask him.

By the time Chris, (Kelly), absorbed Cartwrights into Westmid, I think that the fleet was down to about 40 odd, (including a Krupp cab Atkinson…that I still regret not buying)!

Jack Harrison, now there is a name from the past. Unlettered Tilts, parked on waste land around the Black Country, always awaiting a Harrison unit!

Im surprised that there has been no mention of the Stoke on Trent operators, ■■■■ Chapman, (Chapman and Ball), up Sneyd Hill. Or the Markham-Burgess “Ballet”, Thor Transport, down Chemical Lane, or Ron Carman up at Scholar Green, plus the myriad of subcontractors on traction only. Let alone the Cheshire boys, and Mancunians, or the Scottish contingent. There are loads to write about…it was not a “southern monopoly”!

I was away from the UK “action” when it was really going strongly in the 70s, but had involvement with some of the French Middle East operators, Chapuis, Stouff, VIT , and a number of others, but those outfits are not relevant to this potentially excellent thread…

But my favourite, and really personal memory, was back in the early 70s, painting my new garden fence, when I heard the unmistakable sound of an LB76 coming up our road . It was my friend John Ball, (father of Graham), in an ex W & M Wood LB76 day cab, to tell me that he was off to the Middle East .I admired his steed, but asked what the big pump on the back of the cab was for? He grinned, and said, “the Bulgarians sleep at night”!!!

Just how many trips did he do in that day cab, I do not know…and just how many others earned their money on those routes? Come on Gentlemen, start recalling, were all getting older, lets make a record.

[john_west]

Wow, good info Saviem!

I may be wrong, but I think Alan Taylor was the man with the con rods and pistons in either hand. Would be delighted to hear his memories of that time!

Definitely time for a Bolli.

John

[bestbooties]

Saviem:
Evening all, long old day digging out the ditches, as the monsoon season has now arrived. Saw this thread yesterday, super idea Jazzandy, as there must have been a fair few involved in this traffic over the 70s/80s period. Some fairly big, others smaller, some honest, some rather less so! But all now part of the history of the period, and worth remembering.

How about a few lines about your old company OHS?

John, Cartwright Transport was based on Willenhall Road, Chillington Fields Wolverhampton. Run by Alan Taylor, grew to around 100 vehicles. Alan ran some of his Scania 110s down to the Gulf, as well as the Magirus units. Trying to remember where those Magirus`s came from. Next time we eat in his resteraunt I will ask him.

By the time Chris, (Kelly), absorbed Cartwrights into Westmid, I think that the fleet was down to about 40 odd, (including a Krupp cab Atkinson…that I still regret not buying)!

Jack Harrison, now there is a name from the past. Unlettered Tilts, parked on waste land around the Black Country, always awaiting a Harrison unit!

Im surprised that there has been no mention of the Stoke on Trent operators, ■■■■ Chapman, (Chapman and Ball), up Sneyd Hill. Or the Markham-Burgess “Ballet”, Thor Transport, down Chemical Lane, or Ron Carman up at Scholar Green, plus the myriad of subcontractors on traction only. Let alone the Cheshire boys, and Mancunians, or the Scottish contingent. There are loads to write about…it was not a “southern monopoly”!

I was away from the UK “action” when it was really going strongly in the 70s, but had involvement with some of the French Middle East operators, Chapuis, Stouff, VIT , and a number of others, but those outfits are not relevant to this potentially excellent thread…

Just how many trips did he do in that day cab, I do not know…and just how many others earned their money on those routes? Come on Gentlemen, start recalling, were all getting older, lets make a record.

Saviem,
I agree that it’s a good idea of Jazzandy to start a thread about other firms that did the middle east, but unfortunately many tales about these firms have already been told on the other thread, by many others besides myself.
I have recounted tales of working for Chapman and Ball, a real gent was ■■■■ Chapman RIP.
Also worked for Ron Carman RIP, went to his funeral last year, I’ve posted many stories and photos and unfortunately I don’t have the time to transfer them to this thread as my computer is on a go slow.
If the Burgess you mentioned is Karl Burgess, I’ve known him for a good many years but never actually worked for him, he is still running out of Strongserve’s old yard in Burslem under the name Burgess Logistics.

[robert1952]

Here’s a pic I found on the net, which reminds us that about this time of the year the weather starts to deteriorate as the Middle-East driver heads into Eastern Europe and Turkey - time to forget about sun and sand for another thousand or so miles! Robert

[robert1952]

The Syrians built beautiful kitchen boxes for their trailers. Some Europeans bought them too. I seem to remember that you could get them made up for you at Homs truck stop (on the convoy route) and pick them up on the return journey. If I had carried on doing the trips I think I would have had one done for me. Robert

[david_miller]

I remember them well Robert - works of art they were but all the firms that I worked on had boxes already fitted and we did not necessarily keep the same trailer anyway.

David

[newmercman]

hutpik:
There was something on the Astran thread sometime ago about an Oryx driver who had died i think but i cant remember who it was .Butch used to run with one guy a lot [not Chris Bolt.]

Chris left us prematurely in 1994, I visited him in hospital just before he went, he hung on until his 50th.

I think it was Colin Berry that was mentioned on the Astran thread.

[hutpik]

Well done NMM.That’s who i was trying to think of Colin Berry.Him and Butch were always together,i Think they used to fix the trips
I was friends with Chris from 1972 when we worked for Seahorse from Harwich,we both come from the same area ,Colchester\Clacton.Later i bumped into him in the ME occasionally.He stayed at my place in Holland a few times as well.

[newmercman]

I met Colin on one of my first trips over the water, I had a brand new 95 Daf on an E plate, one of the first which is what got us talking. Bumped into him here and there over the years and then I got back off a trip for Solstor and he was sat in the tea hut. The same thing happened with Chris, I knew him from his MedTrans days, came into the yard and there he was, he had lost a lot of weight, but was instantly recognisable.

I ran with both of them many times, they were never boring trips

[tiptop495]

robert1952:
Here’s a pic I found on the net, which reminds us that about this time of the year the weather starts to deteriorate as the Middle-East driver heads into Eastern Europe and Turkey - time to forget about sun and sand for another thousand or so miles! Robert

0

Hey Robert, Always the same why no fuel heaters or airdryers as thy were already aviable from the '70 on.
Had for a while auto snowchains, not that it was THE solution, but nice in some points.
In France it began already with the fuel, lets alone Turkey or Russia, if you could was to buy at army guys but …

Eric,

[david_miller]

Well done NMM.That’s who i was trying to think of Colin Berry.Him and Butch were always together,i Think they used to fix the trips
I was friends with Chris from 1972 when we worked for Seahorse from Harwich,we both come from the same area ,Colchester\Clacton.Later i bumped into him in the ME occasionally.He stayed at my place in Holland a few times as well.

Right again. They were pretty nearly inseparable.

But I must say that for me the real heroes are those blokes that drove for the Iranian and Afgan companies that were running to Germany long before we even knew where the place was. Just imagine doing regular trips Tehran to Hamburg in that Austin rigid, or come to that the old Mack, with the very short looking headboard sleeper. That’s what heroes were made of!

David