harry: rexyu
I was the last driver on the Maggi Road train . Then Sandro refused to leave Milan on a Saturday so they flew me down on Saturday evening to Milan to bring the FIAT back. I was with Graham Bill. I got to the truck ,Graham handed me the keys but it was dead…Sandro had turned the battery off with a switch located down the chassis by the fuel tank . Anyway,I crossed into France over the Blanc before 2200hrs…I heard about the Scania but I never saw it…
Since you go way back…Did you know Malta Cross…? I was the first driver on there…The trip was London to Marseilles with containers. When you got there you dropped the trailer in the docks ,parked the unit on the Quay de Belge,and stayed at a flash hotel on the front until the Containers had been unloaded & loaded…Lovely…!
This brought back some memories i had to take the maggie an trailer to load.I went to a small company off of shorditch,rivington st to load waste plastic.It had a 6 speed column gear shift with a spliter.I had,nt driven it before an the trailer was shorter than the lorry so it was difficult to reverse if you was,nt used to it.I took it back to island row when i was loaded,i remember taking the fiat to load it at milton keynes just the lorry no trailer that was when tony used to drive it,the fiat was rhd the maggie lhd.I used to go out with micky maunders we drank in a pub called the zetland off kingsland road he had a good mate called tony davey who worked on sgh in wapping.Micky bought a new 140 i remember it was red an he done some tank work with it.I think his friend tony went on pie with him,tony ended up on chevalier bros doing m/e for a year or so.Ron hall an allen the shunter went to folkstone to pick a trailer up to go up north as they came out of folkstone around a roundabout the lorry turned over a heavy machine had been loaded in the front corner of the trailer they were lucky to escape unharmed.Jock hastie i saw after sca finished driveing a 1924 merc he had just come back from aba dahbi then in the early 90,s he had an f12 globetrotter subing for europa erith.I went out with janie butler for a few dates she lived in aston street stepney,great girl she lived with mark who worked on the sca race camero they had a pub in bethnal green.Do you remember jeff sears he was a driver then he went in the office his brother was a racing driver who had a really bad accident poor sod ended up in st clements.
boyzee:
…Jock hastie i saw after sca finished driveing a 1924 merc he had just come back from aba dahbi then in the early 90,s he had an f12 globetrotter subing for europa erith…
I remeber him having a couple of left ■■■■■■ Globetrotters on for Europa, one of which was driven by a young lad who was well chuffed as the Globby was brand new (i think!!) Did a couple of overnight runs to Paris together.
boyzee:
…Jock hastie i saw after sca finished driveing a 1924 merc he had just come back from aba dahbi then in the early 90,s he had an f12 globetrotter subing for europa erith…
I remeber him having a couple of left ■■■■■■ Globetrotters on for Europa, one of which was driven by a young lad who was well chuffed as the Globby was brand new (i think!!) Did a couple of overnight runs to Paris together.
i was the young lad who ad jocks left ■■■■■■ back then i worked with him 4 about 4 yrs tramping all over the place 4 him he was a 1 of a kind was old jock
and if i could would go back 2 them days cos they was good times lots of miles no sleep and if u did go 2 sleep when u woke up took u ages 2 think wot country u was in.
boyzee:
…Jock hastie i saw after sca finished driveing a 1924 merc he had just come back from aba dahbi then in the early 90,s he had an f12 globetrotter subing for europa erith…
I remeber him having a couple of left ■■■■■■ Globetrotters on for Europa, one of which was driven by a young lad who was well chuffed as the Globby was brand new (i think!!) Did a couple of overnight runs to Paris together.
i was the young lad who ad jocks left ■■■■■■ back then i worked with him 4 about 4 yrs tramping all over the place 4 him he was a 1 of a kind was old jock
and if i could would go back 2 them days cos they was good times lots of miles no sleep and if u did go 2 sleep when u woke up took u ages 2 think wot country u was in.
Hi Dave and welcome to trucknet…talking of that left ■■■■■■…do you remember picking up those student hitch hikers, they were on a “see who can get the furthest” charity walk…you took them to Paris, apparently the young lady took an…err…um…a “shine to you” whilst her male companion was asleep!!
Well…thats what you told me in Paris the next day!!!
boyzee:
…Jock hastie i saw after sca finished driveing a 1924 merc he had just come back from aba dahbi then in the early 90,s he had an f12 globetrotter subing for europa erith…
I remeber him having a couple of left ■■■■■■ Globetrotters on for Europa, one of which was driven by a young lad who was well chuffed as the Globby was brand new (i think!!) Did a couple of overnight runs to Paris together.
i was the young lad who ad jocks left ■■■■■■ back then i worked with him 4 about 4 yrs tramping all over the place 4 him he was a 1 of a kind was old jock
and if i could would go back 2 them days cos they was good times lots of miles no sleep and if u did go 2 sleep when u woke up took u ages 2 think wot country u was in.
Hi Dave and welcome to trucknet…talking of that left ■■■■■■…do you remember picking up those student hitch hikers, they were on a “see who can get the furthest” charity walk…you took them to Paris, apparently the young lady took an…err…um…a “shine to you” whilst her male companion was asleep!!
Well…thats what you told me in Paris the next day!!!
she was from bristol want 2 she her some months later and that was the 1st trip with that gobstopper so buillet u no me but who the hell r u? ad some laughts at paris.
Welcome Dave.You sound like a younger version of myself and TIRoriginal Nice story. One small comment. I’m having a job reading your shorthand.It looks a bit like texting.No offence meant.
harry: rexyu
I was the last driver on the Maggi Road train . Then Sandro refused to leave Milan on a Saturday so they flew me down on Saturday evening to Milan to bring the FIAT back. I was with Graham Bill. I got to the truck ,Graham handed me the keys but it was dead…Sandro had turned the battery off with a switch located down the chassis by the fuel tank . Anyway,I crossed into France over the Blanc before 2200hrs…I heard about the Scania but I never saw it…
Since you go way back…Did you know Malta Cross…? I was the first driver on there…The trip was London to Marseilles with containers. When you got there you dropped the trailer in the docks ,parked the unit on the Quay de Belge,and stayed at a flash hotel on the front until the Containers had been unloaded & loaded…Lovely…!
This brought back some memories i had to take the maggie an trailer to load.I went to a small company off of shorditch,rivington st to load waste plastic.It had a 6 speed column gear shift with a spliter.I had,nt driven it before an the trailer was shorter than the lorry so it was difficult to reverse if you was,nt used to it.I took it back to island row when i was loaded,i remember taking the fiat to load it at milton keynes just the lorry no trailer that was when tony used to drive it,the fiat was rhd the maggie lhd.I used to go out with micky maunders we drank in a pub called the zetland off kingsland road he had a good mate called tony davey who worked on sgh in wapping.Micky bought a new 140 i remember it was red an he done some tank work with it.I think his friend tony went on pie with him,tony ended up on chevalier bros doing m/e for a year or so.Ron hall an allen the shunter went to folkstone to pick a trailer up to go up north as they came out of folkstone around a roundabout the lorry turned over a heavy machine had been loaded in the front corner of the trailer they were lucky to escape unharmed.Jock hastie i saw after sca finished driveing a 1924 merc he had just come back from aba dahbi then in the early 90,s he had an f12 globetrotter subing for europa erith.I went out with janie butler for a few dates she lived in aston street stepney,great girl she lived with mark who worked on the sca race camero they had a pub in bethnal green.Do you remember jeff sears he was a driver then he went in the office his brother was a racing driver who had a really bad accident poor sod ended up in st clements.
Yes rexyu i met frankie,not the sort of person you would want to fall out with.To be honest janie only wanted me to meet her mum and dad because she didnt want them to know about mark the mechanic,she was having an affair with him an sort of used me as a smoke screen.We went out a few times just for a drink nothing else.I was born in the next street to where they lived so i got on with her parents realy good.
Yes, Frankie was a very well known “face” around the east end at the time. Good sort though, as was Janie. Terrible tempers though, the two of them.
What did Janie’s parents have against Mark? He was a nice enough bloke, I thought.
I remember going for a meal at The Londoner with Janie and Mark. I was with Addy, a beautiful black girl who also worked at SCA. A bit on the plump side, but with the most liquid eyes you’ve ever seen. I wonder what happened to her? She was a sweet girl.
rexyu:
Yes, Frankie was a very well known “face” around the east end at the time. Good sort though, as was Janie. Terrible tempers though, the two of them.
What did Janie’s parents have against Mark? He was a nice enough bloke, I thought.
I remember going for a meal at The Londoner with Janie and Mark. I was with Addy, a beautiful black girl who also worked at SCA. A bit on the plump side, but with the most liquid eyes you’ve ever seen. I wonder what happened to her? She was a sweet girl.
Mark was married and i think he was a bit older than janie.I knew Addy i think she lived in whitechapel she wore long skirts with boots alot,she was janies mate an knew alot of people from the eastend.There was also a young bloke in the office he was from wales had really long hair an dressed like a hippy.I got the job tththrough through eddy denett who was in the uk office i was only 21 when i started after about 18 months i joined the union an someone found out my age and sca,s insurance was over 25 yrs old so i had to leave,i loved the job the mony was good an the trucks were good.They rebuilt the very first maggie fleet no 1 put a new cab on it an completely restored it.I think it only did one or to trips.
Well, I never knew that Mark was married. He kept that quiet from us. But then I suppose you would, especially if you were giving Frankie Butler’s daughter one.
That was a blow about your age. SCA was about the best job available at the time. Very few left., I did, because I didn’t fancy that staging thingy in mid France.
I drove the original Maggy that they restored. HKM 449D was it’s reg. That would have been around 1965 and was my first continental job. Sounded like a tin of old nails until you got some revs up. Steering column change as well. That was when SCA were at Chandlers Ford, before the move to London.
During my second spell at SCA, Dennis Scorer and Keith Parley were given the Maggi and the idea was to do some heavy haulage with it, 'cos it was a 6x4 drive. From memory though, I don’t think it ever happened.
I went into the Stratford LIFT, when I was on with Russell Davies. While waiting to tip the box I had on. a courier van marked up as Parley’s from Melksham pulled in. By the time I had tipped, the van had gone, so I wasn’t able to speak to the driver.
You’re right, Keith was one of the best pals I ever made on continental work. Very popular wherever he went, he was a complete gent.
Hello All
After nearly 50 years working in the industry Only found this site last week (Checking up on The new 28 day tacho rule).
Still work in transport think I blame my father for the diesel in my blood.
Plant Eng .worked for them from 1975-1980.ish.started as a drivers mate.
The F89s were ex PIE as were the yellow/Red trailers can remember them well all the toys were still in the F89s.
The,Peter in the picture Trailer Unloading the D8 outside tan house farm Peter Walsh ex owner driver true salt of the earth bloke can remember one day giving an cardiff international driver who ran out of cash somewhere in the back of beyond £10 with the words give back when you can,
The three guys in the black London cab Peter in the back with Johnnie Britton and May be Roger Annis Driving, Proberly off the the Coln Cafe our regular Breakfast haunt.(best breekie in Bucks then)
A few of you might have know my Father Frank ITALIAN Rossie.worked in the 70-80s for Ashton International/Thurrocks/Speedway Freightway/ and for the Swanson Empire .(as long As James was paying cash in hand.) .
Then he gave up International worked for square grip,Gaffs,Carrols.(when Martin wore short trousers).Sprung Slumber,Goodwins,To name a few if anyone has any pictures would love to see them as Franks now shunting Angels and proberly trying to get a back hander from St Peter for some gates hes got from a mate.LOL…
Well must get on will post some more soon.
I had a connection to some of the sca boys through EVS/AGA/TAE later Europa, Keith Parley had a few vans running in the early 80s doing all the west country groupage from Erith. i met Dennis Scorer when i started on Solstor in 91, he was a character, i’d been at it for 5yrs by then & learnt a lot from people like him, as for Jock Hastie, my uncle (Davefluffy) who is same age as me drove for him, Jock had some ex EVS f10s, a couple of Austrian Hinos (Steyr) & Fluffys lhd F12 Globey & was tspt manager for the bloke i worked for, he was a handy bloke to have on the end of the phone, although he wanted his pound of flesh, i read the earlier posts & he sounds a bit of a … but i speak as i find & he never did me a bad turn, wouldnt call him a mate, but could that man pull a bird! Haven’t seen or heard anything from him or Dennis for years now, or any of the other Solstor boys, had a couple of years on there & loved every minute, we worked hard & partied harder. There were 20 odd drivers when i was there, where are all you guys now?
The first time I came across PIE was 76 or 77 I was chatting to a couple of their drivers at the border Kapikule, I have to say they were not very happy and talking about flying home, not that I’m a big M/E man I only did 2 trips but I did complete them, I’m not being critical of those guys cos I know what it is like to be sent off to Kuwait or Bagdhad without proper briefing, it’s a very steep learning curve espeacially when you have no real permits so you have to go eastern block and when you get to Saudi you find you have an entry visa not a transit visa, oh happy days
newmercman:
I had a connection to some of the sca boys through EVS/AGA/TAE later Europa, Keith Parley had a few vans running in the early 80s doing all the west country groupage from Erith. i met Dennis Scorer when i started on Solstor in 91, he was a character, i’d been at it for 5yrs by then & learnt a lot from people like him, as for Jock Hastie, my uncle (Davefluffy) who is same age as me drove for him, Jock had some ex EVS f10s, a couple of Austrian Hinos (Steyr) & Fluffys lhd F12 Globey & was tspt manager for the bloke i worked for, he was a handy bloke to have on the end of the phone, although he wanted his pound of flesh, i read the earlier posts & he sounds a bit of a … but i speak as i find & he never did me a bad turn, wouldnt call him a mate, but could that man pull a bird! Haven’t seen or heard anything from him or Dennis for years now, or any of the other Solstor boys, had a couple of years on there & loved every minute, we worked hard & partied harder. There were 20 odd drivers when i was there, where are all you guys now?
Somebody posted earlier that Dennis Scorer had moved to Bordeaux. Strange that. He wasn’t the sort of bloke that I would imagine doing that. A real Londoner was our Dennis.
