Just reminiscing about 60years back to 1962 on a freezing cold Winter . Hope you can keep warm and happy Christmas & new year to all Ron
ronhawk:
Just reminiscing about 60years back to 1962 on a freezing cold Winter . Hope you can keep warm and happy Christmas & new year to all Ron
I remember that Winter well, Ron. The sea froze up our way!
Happy New Year Ron! I seem to remember reading on here that you had a soft spot for this old girl (TA 104). Jerry sent it to me today. It appears here in its original livery.
Ro
Happy New Year Ronald F. Hawkins with the Golden ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
To me and many others this would be the ultimate ERF for many applications:
- Rough conditions
- Extreme heath
- Overloaded
- Endurance, read tough climbing in hilly circumstances
- Tough conditions for maintenance, think of spanners in petrol to prevent heath
- Absence of your favorite girl(s)
- Absence of your favorite motor-cycle
No pub around - Stay in TA-Hotel (members only!!!)
A-J
ERF-NGC-European:
Happy New Year Ron! I seem to remember reading on here that you had a soft spot for this old girl (TA 104). Jerry sent it to me today. It appears here in its original livery.Ro
Well thanks NGC for your good wishes , 104 Stan the man left 104 in good hands when it came into S Jones garage for its first service , after his record run in from ITALY, I could not wait to rd test it , finding no ( STEERING WHEEL IN THE OS ) !!! Har Har John Davies and myself took it out on a clear night on the Chester rd it was brilliant , Having its service, and the baked beans where washed off the NS and it had the full treatment , it was one of my favourite Trucks and to follow it to Trans Arabia was a privalige
ERF-Continental:
Happy New Year Ronald F. Hawkins with the Golden ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■To me and many others this would be the ultimate ERF for many applications:
- Rough conditions
- Extreme heath
- Overloaded
- Endurance, read tough climbing in hilly circumstances
- Tough conditions for maintenance, think of spanners in petrol to prevent heath
- Absence of your favorite girl(s)
- Absence of your favorite motor-cycle
- Stay in TA-Hotel (members only!!!)
A-J
AJ good to hear you all good wishes to you , I love the way your mind documents the hard questions i will try to answer rough conditions , The heat was somehow just bearable , all the lads where Aventurus the Trucks carried unbelievable loads ,the breakdowns where scary ( days away ) water had to be the first thought without it would be fatale , no shade from that relentless Sun . TA had a banner that could be seen. At the airport on the end of a broom stick NO BIRDS NO BEER and NO BONUS .the hotel somehow likened to Hotel California a song that I like ■■ Thanks again A-J Ron
When 114 pulled out late afternoon to clime Tief mountain I noticed black smoke coming out of stack , thinking nothing of it. Next morning I found out that it had burnt out near the top of Tief on a double track rd .after hearing the reports of the state it was in , I got tooled up for a difficult recovery Tony Cope and I whent out in 117 putting all the equitment on the trailer , well the main tool was klicker jacks and scaffolding bars , finding the wreck on a steep gradient it was quite demanding to part the truck from its now mammoth load two 20ft boxes full of marble , at leased 80 ton no wander it burnt out this load was crazy .
Happy new year Ron my old sadiq glad you are going well …same here !! the lads on the DAKAR think they are doing it tough …
backsplice:
Happy new year Ron my old sadiq glad you are going well …same here !! the lads on the DAKAR think they are doing it tough …
Happy new year to you Backsplice good to hear you are still upright keep going , The dig at the Dakar rally made me smile , the majority are rich kids getting a kick out of playing in the sand . We where poor kids trying to earn a few bob , helping a rich country building there infrastructure into the 21st century , with no back up it was for sure only for men with a strong constitution and a lot of luck, driving from the Tap line to the mountains of Abha. No roadside cafe . No phone 100s of miles from anywhere under red hot sun .with forthough you could get away with it ,and a big slice of luck The ERF with ■■■■■■■ was a comforting prayer , Ron
backsplice:
Good to hear Ron … here,s a shot of me in the SARAMAT team trying out for DAKAR
Nice shot Backsplice looks like you have got the pedal to the metal , the photo below is just a shot of a new rd , but to get there was the furthest I got in Saudi it was on the rd to Jizan , I can’t make out the signe post but the wire mesh was to contain the banks from falling onto the rd ,befor this the mountains had heavy mesh bolted into the rocks you can imagine the roads after the heavy rain , ron
Time on my hands ,looking through some old papers of adventure in the land of sand I came across this poem ? I think it’ should be on Truck Net
ronhawk:
Time on my hands ,looking through some old papers of adventure in the land of sand I came across this poem ? I think it’ should on Truck Net
Hey Mr. R.F. H. (with the golden spanner) really a good and nice post to let people now focus on nowadays and what was…as
not everything was normal/inevitable and goods flow by men and machines…
Meanwhile a thread on ■■■■■■■ in UK is started and feel free to input, high- and lowlight your experiences and thoughts!
Good to read you again and within weeks I expect a picture from you on a motorcycle in the sun!
Happy weekend, stay safe, sound and happy!
■■■■■■■■ anything less is a gamble
Greetings - good to see many of you alive and kicking.
As some know I keep in touch with some of the people involved with TA customers spread around the world, the farthest being the Falklands. Well yesterday brought Some bad news, Roger Lambert who ran R M Douglas Construction from Birmingham died, a real gent. We became friends in 1976 when he walked into TAs office looking for assistance in getting some of their materials and equipment out of the port. Their contract was to build the new headquarters for the Royal Saudi Airforce on the original airport site. They were TAs first or second customer (non Binzagr ) the other was Streeters from Surrey who were renewing th sewage system in Jeddah - they would hire one of old LV trucks to move there low loader with machinery or there tanker refuelling equipment - a stressful job. They paid £650 a day in 1976/77.
Ron - trust you are in good health and not climbing those ladders to much.
Cheers
Ken B
ERF-Continental:
ronhawk:
Time on my hands ,looking through some old papers of adventure in the land of sand I came across this poem ? I think it’ should on Truck NetHey Mr. R.F. H. (with the golden spanner) really a good and nice post to let people now focus on nowadays and what was…as
not everything was normal/inevitable and goods flow by men and machines…Meanwhile a thread on ■■■■■■■ in UK is started and feel free to input, high- and lowlight your experiences and thoughts!
Good to read you again and within weeks I expect a picture from you on a motorcycle in the sun.
Hello AJ good to see you on T/A hope you are well , With ref to ■■■■■■■ this photo must be the ultimate Acollade to this American engine grafted into the British ERF with over 300,000 miles on the clock S Jones became a success with this Bullit prof engine with very little down time the Red arrows of S Jones fleet made it easy to venture into Saudi with of cause the hand picked hard working local men Ron
■■■■■■■■ anything less is a gamble
Well you mentioned the motor cycle AJ ? I must be getting old ■■ The CCM had been standing over the winter , and last week I thought I would start it up ? Well it would not run I had twin spark ok I had petrol ok then it did fire up but just ticking over no revs . On investigation I found the exhaust pipe was full of petrol ? " l could have been blown up " getting the twin carburater off was tight and stripping it down I found both flote needles stuck open this was of cause the truble having fixed it it now runs fine looking forward to the sun , Ron
Good deeds are always something to celebrate, ". A chip off the old block " I would have loved to been with the lads ? RLNI every station in the British isles was visited by the lads on there motor bikes Mark & Jonny Mac , in photos , every , one had a coastal area to visit reaching far and wide , a total £ 11.000. Was raised for the brave RNLI Staff £ 3000 whent to the ( scuba divers who needed a new engine for there under water search boat ) along side of £8000 to the RNLI THANKS to all who contributed to this venture , Ron
Hey Mr. R.F. H. also known as the AJS-devil locally.
Good to read your post and hopefully you’re sound, safe and happy?
Just saw a series with Drew Pritchard visiting the Aldridge-workshop you are familiar with?
Roly Turner and Andy Hemings were occupied with the restauration of a genuine (last built
I guess) Morris Minor for the British post. Could be a nice sub-job for you as well if time?
Wish you and your beloved all the best, a happy summer with a good harvest on fruit and
enjoyable tours with your motor.
Take care Mr. Golden Spanner, ex-Arabia!
A-J
Thanks for your thoughts AJ alls well here .hope all good with you , it’s been good to contact far & wide on this thread ? We have garden BBQ,s with the family and a glass ore two in the warm sunshine the Mac shed is still open but not much going on , looking back at times gone by see photos
Ronhawk … still on the go then my old sadiq I’m afraid there’s not many left that had the great experiences from these early days I reckon its a lot different now
I miss not having someone around to reminisce with but I suppose not a lot of lads went from out here .
Nowadays the vehicles are huge monoliths some don,t even have big mirrors just cameras in the cabin …where’s the fun gone …cabins that bounce up and down and everything else …they may go home hungry but not tired ■■?.. Aw Ron getting old and crochety !!! most important though you’re still going well so remember to put a couple of bricks in your pocket to keep you on the seat of your Beeza
Mah salams