F Troop.........

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS OLD TIME LORRIES, COMPANIES AND DRIVERS (INTERACT
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The Turkish Kirimize Dozvola ( Red Permit) Marlborough Polis, stopped this F Troop driver somewhere between Bolu and Kizilkahamam, and made him try to pull out the Tonka!! What a sight, F Troop could just about pull themselves eh!

Needless to say, I looked the other way and kept going…

This one is up on the top of Iskenderun, blizzard and traffic jam because a Kamikaze coach had gone off the road into the forest.

And then there was Tarsus!!! This is on the way down, southbound with the Tonka Tankers three abreast, and I am heading towards them.

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Great snaps ,once again.

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Do you know?I still miss it after all these years,no one could believe the number of different experiences you could have on one trip.As I’ve said before,not many trips required befire you can write a book.

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This was going over Tarsus when the road was only a dirt track.I saw the start of the motorway before I finished,but I believe it’s all motorway now.

Following a fuel tanker through Tarsus.

This was the main road out of Turkey going to Iraq in 1974.Going East from Urfa it was all like this.

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bestbooties:
Do you know?I still miss it after all these years,no one could believe the number of different experiences you could have on one trip.As I’ve said before,not many trips required befire you can write a book.

I am happy being 37 :laughing: but i get well pi$$ed that i am not 20yrs older when i look at what i missed out on
after looking at the pic`s & reading the tales of what the job once was for the lucky few.

Do any of you old hands on the M/E remember a firm on the run,
i think called White Trucking wrote in big lettering on a step frame tilt with a double drive 88/89
a friend of mine used to drive it Billy from down south but living in Liverpool
He had some great pics when he had 2 caravns in the tilt & a tow ball on the cow catcher with the third caravan on it, and another pic when the tow ball came of in the desert somewhere and the caravan made its own way out into the sand, and pics of one or Bowkers whos belly tank had fell off somewhere in the middle of nowhere with plenty of sand around.
Ill try and get over to see him and get the pics copied
Its a long shot but one of you may remember him,
hes now 65 but has always been about 9 stone soaking wet & about 5"7" :laughing: with his bald head and beard in some of his pics from the 70`s he looked a bit like a Iranian arms dealer :laughing: :laughing:

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nianiamh:

bestbooties:
Do you know?I still miss it after all these years,no one could believe the number of different experiences you could have on one trip.As I’ve said before,not many trips required befire you can write a book.

and pics of one or Bowkers whos belly tank had fell off somewhere in the middle of nowhere with plenty of sand around. Ill try and get over to see him and get the pic`s copied

Look forward to the Bowker pic if you’re able to find it!

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nianiamh:

bestbooties:
Do you know?I still miss it after all these years,no one could believe the number of different experiences you could have on one trip.As I’ve said before,not many trips required befire you can write a book.

I am happy being 37 :laughing: but i get well pi$$ed that i am not 20yrs older when i look at what i missed out on
after looking at the pic`s & reading the tales of what the job once was for the lucky few.

Do any of you old hands on the M/E remember a firm on the run,
i think called White Trucking wrote in big lettering on a step frame tilt with a double drive 88/89
a friend of mine used to drive it Billy from down south but living in Liverpool
He had some great pics when he had 2 caravns in the tilt & a tow ball on the cow catcher with the third caravan on it, and another pic when the tow ball came of in the desert somewhere and the caravan made its own way out into the sand, and pics of one or Bowkers whos belly tank had fell off somewhere in the middle of nowhere with plenty of sand around.
Ill try and get over to see him and get the pics copied
Its a long shot but one of you may remember him,
hes now 65 but has always been about 9 stone soaking wet & about 5"7" :laughing: with his bald head and beard in some of his pics from the 70`s he looked a bit like a Iranian arms dealer :laughing: :laughing:

The only firm that springs to mind was Whitetrux from outside Canterbury,blue and white Volvos.The boss was Mickey White.
As well as trucking overland,they had an operation in Jeddah,which was the only operational container port in those days.They had a yard and office,and they had modified some of their trailers by welding a substantial towing eye on the back,and fabricating a dolly with a fifth wheel on to tow another trailer,so they could haul two 40’ trailers as a road train.
Their were no real traffic laws in Saudi at the time and they could not get the containers out of the port quick enough.
I had ocassion to call in their Jeddah office when I was driving for Chapman and Ball.I was doing a “Milk run”,5 drops around Jordan and Saudi! I had one drop on for Jeddah,and the only address was a PO box number.I went to the Post Office and they gave me the phone number of the client,but there was no answer. I was told I could write them a letter and wait for them to collect it,and hope to make contact! What better offer than from Mickey White than to drop the stuff in their yard and they would trace the customer and deliver it.
The characters and cameraderie in those days were unbelievable,don’t know if anyone has the time to spare today to offer any help!

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great pics and stories, also on firms people remember, does anyone remember h j victor from jersey? i have a pic of a blue scammell stuck in the snow somewhere, just wondering if it rang any bells?

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nian that does sound like white trux i didnt know but funstons ran f88s to the middle east better known now for fridge work .if any one gets the book on the story of the f88/89 theres loads of picks in that book of firms who ran to the middle east

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The conspiracy theory starts here and I wonder just how much confidential information did F-Troop (Romtrans), PKS (Pekaes), Somat (Willi Betz) Charlie Sad (CSAD) and Hungarocamion glean from our customs invoices and carnets as we sailed down through Eastern Europe?

I know Hungarocamion could bid for British Lending Library work at much lower prices than any European haulier could dream of doing it for. The library in Thorpe Arch was testament to that with queues of Laslo moustaches waiting to load

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Carl:
nian that does sound like white trux i didnt know but funstons ran f88s to the middle east better known now for fridge work .if any one gets the book on the story of the f88/89 theres loads of picks in that book of firms who ran to the middle east

Like a lot of instances on the M/E,you got to know some lads really well while some others you never managed to meet over all the years.I got to know two of Funstons lads,Noel Walker and big Cliff.I met Noel several times in different places,a few times on the Volos ferry,on the Tapline,in Spain.
Big Cliff I only met him once,but we spent so much time together on that one trip.I think Cliff had the first F12 Globetrotter on Funstons,and we met at the border crossing from Iraq into Saudi that comes out at Ra’fa halfway down the Tapline.He had been several days at the border,but we both cleared at the same time.He was goint to Riyahd and I was going to Buraydah which meant us both going down to the “Mirrors”,then taking the new road as it was then.When we parted to go to our own drops,I had the phone number of where he was delivering so I could call him when I was tipped so we could meet up again on the new road,as there was not a lot of English trucks doing M/E then,and it was always handy to run with someone.
Sure enough,I met him on the way back and we hit the Tapline and started to cover some miles,Cliff was in front.
After a couple of hours,my engine gave a bang and a clatter and I had to shut it down and pull onto the desert. This was my first M/E trip for Expo Freight in the latest truck he’d bought,a 5 year old Scania 111.
Cliff had done a few miles before he realised I wasn’t with him,but he turned round and came back.While he got a brew on,I tilted the cab and started to investigate,turned out the motor had dropped a valve,no way was this going to get me home.
I had a straight bar for towing and a towing eye on the back of my trailer,so we swapped trailers so Cliff could pull my trailer with the bar pulling me with his trailer on.He towed me out of Saudi,through Jordan and into Syria.While coming along the dual carriageway out of Damascus,we overtook a scruffy jeep type thing with some uniforms on,we were doing about 60!Of course,I was on an 8’ straight bar and couldn’t see naff all,I just had to follow Cliff.Next thing I know,this jeep thing pulls us over,it’s Old Bill isn’t it?Cost us 100 DM to get away from that!We eventualy arrived at the "Oryx " garage at Incerlik,the first civilised place we could 'phone home from.Cliff had towed me for 1,000 miles!
We both spoke to our respective bosses and they asked if we could strip the tilts down and top my rig onto Cliff’s and carry me back to somewhere a little more civilised while they considered the next move.
We stripped the tilts and found a ramp where we could load me rig onto Cliff,with some other driver’s help pushing from the rear.
By the time we got back to Istanbul,my boss,Ray Phillips,Knowing my fitting abilities and that I had my tools with me,said another of our drivers would be shipping out shortly and would meet me in Belgrade and have all the spares I needed to repair the motor!
We met up at the “National Hotel”,then went round to the railway station,the only place with a ramp,and towed my rig off Cliff’s trailer,then towed me back to the “National” car park where I spent the next couple of days rebuilding the top of the engine with a new cylinder head and gaskets.
I thanked Cliff and he pushed off,I’ve never seen him again!
I got the engine fired up again,collected a load of tractor tyres in Belgrade and made for the ferry!
Well I was going great until 30 miles from Zeebrugge,when a valve dropped on the other cylinder head!Within 5 minutes another mate driving a Mack for OHS stopped behind me and asked if he could help. I said he could tow me if we could swap trailers on the hard shoulder! He said bugger that,get the straight bar out and I’ll push you!And he did.The only problem was,he could not see what I could see,and he didn’t see the roundabout at the end of the motorway as you come into Zeebrugge!
Anyway,we dropped my trailer at the docks and a tugmaster put my trailer on the ferry then towed me on,same proceedure getting of in Dover,then got my tractor towed back to Loughton,for a new engine.
So when your motor gives up the ghost 4,000 miles from home,what do you do?GET IT HOME!That’s what driving the M/E was all about
I have been looking this afternoon for a few pics I have of my rig on tow and being unloaded at Belgrade Railway station,when I find them I’ll put them up.

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brilliant stuff ian .you really have gotta get a book done with storys like that :wink:

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ive read whitetrux used to run roadtrains in deregulated areas of the m/e is that true and does anyone have pics

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bestbooties Met Noel & Cliff later on the Algerian run.Ray Phillips! What a ■■■■■■! I did one trip to italy for him in a completely knackered Maggie. After carrying it on my back there & back I went round to his house for my dosh & his wife said he wasn’t there.I said I would wait until he came back & he appeared sheepishly from the kitchen & I got my dosh & never saw him again! :laughing:
Got a snap somewhere of that old wreck ;It was permanently on tow.Heap!! :laughing:
Had to park up as soon as it got dark because the alternator wasn’t working so no lights. and that was interior lights as well.

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Carl:
ive read whitetrux used to run roadtrains in deregulated areas of the m/e is that true and does anyone have pics

Read my post of Thursday 26th July.
Whitetrux ran rigs with two 40’ trailers out of Jeddah docks to anywhere in Saudi.
As far as I know,there was no legislation to disuade their use.
Sorry I have no photos.

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Further to my earlier post on breaking down on the Tapline and getting recovered by big Cliff of Funstons,I’ve just found the pics.

This pic shows Cliff’s Globetrotter pulling my trailer towing me puling his trailer.

This pic shows the length of the bar and the air line from my tractor plugged into the spare wheel on my trailer,we had to inflate the tyre every day to keep the air presure up.

This pic shows us my rig being towed off Cliff’s trailer at Belgrade railway station.

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I used to always “be prepared” I travelled with a 15ft solid tow bar and a twenty ft wire bond that I "found " in the docks somewhere. On one trip back home from Doha in my 141, Gary Glass and I had just come through the Saudi side of the border at Ar Ar, I had gone through the wadi in low range and when I came up the other side just before the Iraqi soldier in his hut, I changed into high range and Bang my range change exploded. No drive in high. so I selected 4th in low and crept up to the control post where the soldier wanted to check my trailer boxes. He saw all my tins of food and gestured to them asking what was in them. I made the noise like a pig every time he picked up a tin, telling him that it was pork. Except when he picked up a tin of luncheon meat.Then I told him it was ■■■■ a doodle doo, chicken. he let me go through.
We finished our empty customs procedures eventually, after being acosted by the customs man because a few days earlier an Astran driver ( Mike Walker) had been asked by him for something for a sore throat. Mike gave him a bottle of vinegar and told him to drink it for his sore throat!!! No good man, we were told.
Any way back to the range change. We parked up in the desert for the night and in the morning, I dropped my prop, unwound my wire bond and hooked it up on the back of Garys trailer. He towed me to the Mivan camp in Baghdad where we took out my gearbox and stripped down the range change.
I changed up a load of black market Iraqi Dinar and got a taxi to the street of a thousand clutches, where Scania Iraq was.
I bought the range change parts that I needed and went back to fit the parts.
In a couple of days I was rolling again, and we were on our way to Zakho and then home.

Prop off, ready to be towed to Baghdad.

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Couldn’t see Cliff in that snap of the station. Is he on it?

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harry:
Couldn’t see Cliff in that snap of the station. Is he on it?

He’s on there somewhere.The picture is not very clear but Clif was doing something whether he is one of those in the pic or out of sight.

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The Cliff that I know would stand out a mile because of his bald spot.