We had a full Reefer broke down in Jeddah dock ? I was with Gypsy Dave after checking it over i said it’s the alternator that’s not charging ? where can we get one for the Thermo King ? Dave said !! there’s one over there pointed to one that was running flat out ? 
That’s the way we kept our services running , in that heat ,he reminded me of this at the dads Army reunion 
, Ron
Gypsy. Dave , this was the man who took his 95Ton Mac truck where no White man had been before , with a load of this magnitude ,down the now notorious Khamis rd ,it’s like the Big Dipper at Blackpool only with ever increasing mountain rd,s that climb higher and higher into the hot sun , 
as they go higher they fall steeper and longer , he was in big trouble!!!the dead man was pulled on The weight over ran the engine brake !!! 
The noise sounded like a machine gun firing blanks ?( Mirlin knows what I mean ) 
pulling back on the wheel using all his strength to hold back a runaway monster load with both feet on the tall Mack footbrake peddle , he told me the foot brake was ■■■■■■■ , and the Yank with him was ■■■■■■■ , 
Gypsy Dave himself was ■■■■■■■ , in fact they where all Shi-ing there selfs including the Mac , Well I know Dave prayed to there God , and it paid off Big time so I can’t knock it , he actually steered the outfit in such a way that it stopped with the cargo intact , the engine had somehow turned itself into straight six smashing machine , finding valves and bits of piston in the exhaust silencer !!! I had never seen anything destroyed as much as this in all my experience it must go down in the history of Trans Arabia Trucking , :the con rods where like horse shoes 
it was a pleasure for JD and me to rebuild , this now famous Mac together with its now Famous Driver Gypsy Dave , Ron
Taseco TMS we had a transformer tip over the trailer it was on ,this was being unloaded in Kohbar there was a hell of game trying to claim from the insurance ,it cost over a million dollars and weighed 80 ton a very expensive piece of equipment indeed , Gypsy Dave you did fantastic Ron
The diagnostic plug in board I think was just coming in when I was going out ? Our ERFs from A to B where either on the Road or in the sand , apart from that the ERF was trouble free with the brilliant ■■■■■■■ engine and F/Box. we did not need a box of tricks to tell us what to do , RON
A typical scene outside our villa in Jeddah , the girls school turned out on the afternoon and congested our work space so much so that we could not carry on with the servicing and repairs to the trucks, until they dispersed after buying sticky sweets and drinks from the Venders who used the shade of our villa from the red hot sun leaving a sticky mess of sweet paper and rubbish as all kids do, I remember well the cardboard we used to lie on to stop the oily sand rubbing into our bare backs getting under the trucks for repairs .The woman just in front of the Mac leaning against a Mac engine block !!! tore up the cardboard and used it as a scrapper ? !! to clean the Sh-t of her child’s legs that had a bad state of dysentery and then serving school kids with her wares !!! This was Jeddah flies and all , we had no garage just the rd , With the latest ERF just driving by ,Wonderfull years in the Sun , Ron. Ps the fragrance of the bouquet gave me a lasting impression
I’ve removed the post that WAS here.
Reason for removal: The post was random crap.
dieseldave:
I’ve removed the post that WAS here.Reason for removal: The post was random crap.
Yeah, I thought it was a bit silly tbh but put it down to alcohol over indulgence.
A real man dose not run or hide from his responsibilities, and he as no problem being accountable for his sometimes unnecessary Actions , perhaps it was wrong to air my true thoughts on this thread , so thanks for taking it off, All I said was I would not buy German, there’s nothing silly about that ,being stationed next to Belsen ? For 3 years Made me say the words I wrote , Ron
I think they’ve more than apologised for something somebody else did a long time ago to be fair.
Anyway, there’s no denying in my mind German engineering is the best in the world…apart from MAN these days [emoji57]
Salahm alykhum …C,mon Ronnie lets geee back to what this thread is about …the lovely …heat …sand,& flies these long dusty roads wingin along to Fleetwood Mac “goin their own way”
Mah Salahm
Funny, the things that take you back to long forgotten places and events. Smells. I’ve never smelt a Thorneycroft cab - don’t honestly remember seeing one - but can understand how the smell of an ash tree would recreate a lorry cab of the fifties. The sulphur smell of a steam train - not experienced very often now - takes me back to Barrow Station and going back to school in the early sixties.
What brought this particular memory back was watching a recorded TOTP ( they’ve edited JS out!) from 1978. ‘Mr Blue Sky’. We were delivering several hundred loads to Sanibel, a company on the Al Kharj road outside Riyadh, maybe 1980.
Before then there was no fresh milk in Saudi. We put Nestle Nido powder in and after several weeks it tasted good. Then an American company from Sanibel Island in Florida imported pregnant cows (I think Trans Arabia were also involved).
Suddenly we had fresh milk in the supermarkets. Oh joy!
On one of my deliveries I arrived at about ten at night and there was no one there. I opened both doors of the cab to let the breeze through, made something to eat and sang my heart out ( this would not be good listening, I can’t hold a tune in a bucket!) to an ELO tape I’d bought in the market for about 5 Rials (90p?)
Happy days,
John.
It’s good to see you are still going strong Backsplice , I like your photo of the long and winding desert rd here is another although it’s long after 83 it’s not mine ! Looks a very good duel carriageway I thought the Rd sign will bring back memories !! And now with street lights !! driving at night on the blown sandy tarmac strip was to be avoided if poss , especially in the Mac the head lights where very poor , the Tonkers never used dip !! and most only one eye , John mentioned smells ? Well Jeddah was without doubt the worst , in 77-79 a combination of all things horrible . The milk factory just off the Abqaqe rd Dammam was really bad and we wound up the windows on the day cab ERF s , we had no A/C s and the stench gave me ear ache !! There was I remember a lake about as big as Doncaster F/C which was made with sour milk going off in the hot Sun , Ron ps a mate of mine played for DR/ FC in the 1958 ish Albert Minton he was N/o 9 , big lad , I went to one of there team wedding there with Albert , it was Brill
Hers me trying to get one over on ( nomi S36) making fun of maybe- I hope his football ground in the above tail , and look where it took me ? straight back home , Ron
ronhawk:
Hers me trying to get one over on ( nomi S36) making fun of maybe- I hope his football ground in the above tail , and look where it took me ? straight back home , Ron
Haha [emoji23] I’ve lived in donny for about 17 years but am a Shropshire lad at heart so have no loyalty for donny rovers. Bridgnorth town for me [emoji23][emoji23]
pete smith:
Off to the sign writers today,
Looks very good - probably better then when it was new - lots of hours of love and hard work ■■
Ken b
Kenb:
pete smith:
Off to the sign writers today,Looks very good - probably better then when it was new - lots of hours of love and hard work ■■
Ken b
It’s Andy Talbot’s Ken, Jona’s A series, Jerry’s B series and the above E series they will make one good line up,
One for the fleet
Westranah:
One for the fleet1
Looks better in that livery Wes
Westranah:
One for the fleet1
Looks great you should be very pleased
The Jones family should be very pleased and proud with following let alone the investment!!
Will we ever see a ERF 7MW painted in Trans Arabia livery?? Project for you Mr Cooke
What’s happened to Mr Hawkins? miss his rants or did he got the editors job for the Beano
Ken b