Middle East - Not Astran!

Looking at the state of the 89, it was quite possibly driven by Sid Philpott who never bothered with how clean his lorry was

Nor did I. But I always kept my glasswork pristine: ie mirrors, side windows and light lenses. :wink:

Sid never bothered, the windows were discoloured from the inside by his permanently lit pipe, but he was one good bloke who would always help others on the side of the road

Hicks subby?

Türkiye, Syria and Jordan have pledged to restore and modernise the Hejaz Ralway, a project officials and experts say could carry not only trains, but also the promise of economic revival and regional reconciliation.

Still partially running in 1975, seen here from the Sammy Sirissi parking area in Damascus

I visited the Hejaz railway station in Damascus in 2008. It had been turned into a railway museum, complete with a loco or two. It was a good little museum but I don’t know how well it has survived the turmoil of the last 17 years.

I paid a visit when it was still running, saw the arrival of a train (I think from Amman) both the train and the station had seen better days many years before.
I remember the massive Arabian style brass lamp in the foyer, I was told it was one of the largest ever made.
Also saw the tracks on the line over the mountain to Beirut, it used a rack-and-pinion cog system to overcome the gradiants.

1 Like

I think this was driven by a chap that us

ed to post on here. Can’t remember his bloody user name :neutral_face:

Hi,

Not a specialist of the ME run, but maybe this cine archive might interest some of you:

1 Like

The Mercedes was supplied by Sparshatts of Kent Ltd. Looks to be parked on the Eurolink Industrial Estate in Sittingbourne.

1 Like

Thanks for posting this :+1:

1 Like

I bet the guy leaning against his unit was jealous of what his mates were driving!

My biggest regret of all of my Driving career. Is not taking photos. I only have about 5 or 6. Two of then taken on the Train through Germany ( When Permits were very hard to get ) on my way to Turkey. For my first trip out of Europe. I was subbing for OHS out of the Rainham Essex yard. The others were taken in Italy and Spain. A really disgraceful show for near on 50 years Trucking around the UK and Europe and a bit of ME.

Possibly, but not necessarily. If his F88 was a 240 and their Atkis had 250 Cummins (quite likely at that time) with Fuller RTO 950A gearboxes (also quite likely) he might actually envy his mates. At least their windscreen wipers would still function at speed!

Didn’t one of the ex drivers from this company write a book called “Cola Cowboys”