Sorry double post. 
Those R motors look positively modern to me, my experience of Macks was with the B61s. Only the boss drove an R motor with double drive but even that didn’t have a sleeper cab. OK for us in Oz as we slept on the ground outside, but I don’t envy drivers in Europe with them, at least with Brit wagons with the right kit you could stretch out across the cab. Did they put you up in digs?
An ex driver of Buntines turned up one day with his own wagon, a cabover sleeper, should have seen all the bees round that honeypot. 
By the way, I knew Brian Starbuck at WhiteTrux, didn’t know that he had died though. His deputy was the one I dealt with but I can’t remember his name now. The man who recommended me for the job was Pete Farbrace, anyone know what became of him?
The width of the cab was about 5 ft. So if you slept across the seats (which we did) you had to adopt a foetal position. In the summer months, if we had a 40ft. Soft top we used to sleep on top of the trailer. Of course if the dew fell you ended up in a pool of water yuk!
Brian Starbucks was a great character and a good friend. He had a terrible stutter but he knew the business through and through. He was manager of Parkes Intl. Trailers and then Whitetrux.
Incidentally those quadruplex trucks were great to drive once you mastered the twin stick gearbox. In fact with some drivers it was a matter of pride that you didn’t use the clutch at all. From standstill with a full load you could ease them into crawler without the clutch and so long as you got the revs. right the gearchanges were extremely precise and smooth.
Jazzandy:
The width of the cab was about 5 ft. So if you slept across the seats (which we did) you had to adopt a foetal position. In the summer months, if we had a 40ft. Soft top we used to sleep on top of the trailer. Of course if the dew fell you ended up in a pool of water yuk!Brian Starbucks was a great character and a good friend. He had a terrible stutter but he knew the business through and through. He was manager of Parkes Intl. Trailers and then Whitetrux.
Incidentally those quadruplex trucks were great to drive once you mastered the twin stick gearbox. In fact with some drivers it was a matter of pride that you didn’t use the clutch at all. From standstill with a full load you could ease them into crawler without the clutch and so long as you got the revs. right the gearchanges were extremely precise and smooth.
Don’t envy you sleeping in one of those Andy, or on top, imagine the consequences of getting up in the night half asleep for a pee, doesn’t bear thinking about. 
At least we had soft sand under the trailer and, with all the snakes and scorpions asleep too, only a Dingo licking your face to worry about. 
You might be interested, or might be lulled to sleep by, the following which I wrote a long time ago about learning and operating the quad box. The last paragraph though may explain why we didn’t go in for leaving the clutch alone, or maybe they improved the operation by the time you got your hands on one in an R motor.
I should say at this point that, as this was published by me, I first obtained the permission of the late John Maddock’s publishers, Kangaroo Press, to reproduce anything I wanted from the book as long as I credited the source. Which I now have. 
Of course, the entire quote below is from my own book and is therefore my copyright which anyone may use as long as I am credited in turn. ‘Grandfather’s Clock and Other Tales’ by David Marker 
The first trip with ‘semi and dogs’ — an artic and two forty foot trailers — was as offsider to a young driver of about my own age, then 24, who taught me the intricacies of the ‘quad box’ in the Mack B61 Thermodyne, the glamour wagon of the sixties in the Territory. Quoting from John Maddock’s excellent book ‘A History of Road Trains in the Northern Territory 1934-1988’ I realise how much of an experience of a lifetime I had been offered. ‘(the B61)…had power and complexity — sufficient of the latter to set a Mack driver apart from the rest of the mob. The blokes who could two-stick a quad box — that is, could manipulate the two gear levers simultaneously without making gear grating noises or selecting the wrong compound ratio — were accorded grudging respect by their road colleagues who were trundling along in less technically advanced examples of the automotive engineer’s efforts.’ He then goes on to describe in detail the complex method of starting off and changing up through the gears which, whenever I read it, brings a thrill of nostalgia to me. It is almost word for word how I have been describing it in the intervening years and is almost like confirmation of an apocryphal story told and retold. Almost as if I had begun to doubt the truth myself and here at last was the eradication of that doubt. I reproduce the passage here with apologies to those not interested in such detail but in the certain knowledge that the real trucking enthusiasts will be fascinated. John included a diagram of the layout but I will content myself with a word picture. Imagine three large aitches on the page. One, on its own to the left, and the other two joined so they share a common vertical centre line. The left hand aitch represents the compound, or splitter, box. The double aitch is the main box. The neutrals in each case are in the centre of the horizontals. They, reading from left to right at the top, the gear positions are lo-lo, hi-split, reverse, 2nd, and 4th, and at the bottom — lo-split, direct, 1st, 3rd, and 5th. I’ll now let John take up the story.
‘Disregard the lo-lo position in the compound box. It’s rarely needed.
Select lo-split with the left hand lever and 1st with the right.
Once the vehicle is mobile move the lever across to direct, gain speed and then move it up to hi-split.
Next, using both hands, move the left stick back to lo-split and the right stick up to 2nd. Leave the main box in 2nd and move the left stick to direct and hi-split, as speed dictates. Using one hand this time, move both levers back towards the seat so that lo-split and 3rd are brought into action.
Then do the next two changes with the left hand lever.
Return the left hand lever to lo-split and simultaneously push the main box stick up towards the dash to 4th, where it remains while the compound is put through the next two stages (direct and hi-split) to bring everything together in 0.84:1 overdrive.
If a bit more speed is needed bring the right hand (main box) lever back towards the seat to 5th position and the B61 should be moving along in 0.70:1 overdrive at 100km/hour (62mph) with about 2100 rpm on the engine tachometer.
The procedure was reversed for changing down on hills. It wasn’t necessary to use every ratio; some of them were fairly close and didn’t contribute a great deal to momentum. Thus drivers quickly learned how to skip shift and it took quite a long time for even the best of them to get to the stage where they could two stick a quad box and talk to a passenger at the same time’.Perhaps I should add that double de-clutching and hitting precisely the correct engine revs were essential every time, which is bad enough, but when you think that some of these shifts were a combination of a down change in one box (hi-split to lo-split compound) and an up change (1st to 2nd main) and required different revs, then you will see that it gets even more interesting! Both levers would be neutralised at the same time but the throttle blipped as the lo-split was engaged seconds before the revs were allowed to die for the main up shift to be made.
All this bouncing about on potholed dirt roads for much of the time in clouds of bulldust which often obscured from the driver’s view the rearmost trailer which he was trying hard not to flip by any untoward movement of the steering wheel.
I’m so glad I didn’t 't read that before I started driving the R600. However I had had experience of Scammell and Foden gate crashes.
Generally speaking you moved the sticks out of gear whilst the revs. were decreasing and back into gear after you’d double declutched and the revs were decreasing again.
Quite a few of the Iranian drivers had had their sticks realigned so they could move both sticks with one hand!
The last truck I drove acouple of years back was an auto CF. Bliss!
Jazzandy:
I’m so glad I didn’t 't read that before I started driving the R600. However I had had experience of Scammell and Foden gate crashes.
I drove a Scammell with a gate and a Foden 12 speed but that was a different experience.
Quite a few of the Iranian drivers had had their sticks realigned so they could move both sticks with one hand!
We didn’t modify ours so some of the steering was done with the elbow but some of the changes could, and were, done with one hand. As in
Using one hand this time, move both levers back towards the seat so that lo-split and 3rd are brought into action.
The lorry I drove which was closest to an auto was a semi-auto Beaver for Bunny Hill Motors, but that was way back in the early 70s. They had half a dozen of them, all bought together and identical, but they did have some problems with the boxes.
The CF.auro is not like a car. You can actually hear it engage the clutch and change gear up and down. It’s uncanny but works a treat.
Years back on OHS I had a GMC Astro with a Detroit 320 and an Allison 5 speed auto. It had two ratios but you couldn’t change it on the move so in effect you only had five gears. It was a dog to drive as you had to keep the accelerator on the floor all the time and it was spring loaded . That 's why I’ve got varicose veins in my right leg!
The other feature on the CF and all modern trucks seems to be cruise control. Great idea. You have a heart attack and you’ve got 44 tonnes hurtling down the motorway with no driver!
The GMC had a type of cruise but being a two stroke you couldn’t ’ use it because the engine just got faster and faster.
Hi. Jazzandy.
You were right their was a driver called Danny fagan and A Stan Mathews Danny had a bit of bad look he rolled one Nr. Louth Lincs.
It was taken to Humbers yard Grimsby they tryed to put the container on to one of there units (V8 mandator) the weight of the container was to much the mudguards just sat on the tyres, I went to pick it up no problem for the Mac.
The earlyiest truck I drove was a 1984 AEC Mammoth Major with a wooden park royal cab, top speed 48mph. if you were lookie. also the old scammall with the old gate box and thermo. on the bonnett.
To drive the Mac in those days you were King of the road. there was a firm called king of the road they had Macs they were yellow and ran from Scotland to Yorkshire.
Maurice. Knowen as Big Mo.
Can you remember the guy in the office next ro Wren Bureau. He also had an accident when he wrapped up Vartwevanian 's Ford Zodiac on a roundabout on the A13?
Hi
I cannot remember that accident.Do you know if Des Coombes is still around,I had a bad accident in 1979 which put me in a wheelchair wich I still am (paraplegic) I have only just started with the computer so it is great to hear from you and read other people whitch drove for icc.look foward to hearing from you.
Maurice (Big Mo).)
Hi Maurice,
The last I heard of Des Coombes he was working for one of Vartrvanian’s sons at a BMW motorbike business in New Malden but that was about ten years ago.
So sorry to hear about your accident. You must find the Internet a great thing to put you back in touch with the world.
Hopefully if you follow this thread some old friends might just turn up.
Several ICC drivers came over to Pars intl Ctrs. When ICC folded.
Our job was to ferry brand new Mercedes 2424’s from Germany to Tehran. Once these were exhausted they bought second hand trucks in Holland mainly f88’s and then imported from the States Macks and long nose GMC’s
Just wondering if anyone remembers George Fardell. He worked for Asian Transport, Promotor, and ICC?
Jazzandy:
Just wondering if anyone remembers George Fardell. He worked for Asian Transport, Promotor, and ICC?
Hello Andy, if you do a search for Promotor you might find a photo of George which I think belongs to Truckerash. Some time ago we had a discussion on here as to whether or not George was South African although I am sure that he told me that he was in fact Rhodesian. Did he ever mention to you where he was originally from.
Regards Steve.
George was and is English. He lives in Devon near Exeter. He’s a great guy but a rotally unreconstructed colonial anachronism. He was in a documentary whilst in Rhodesia years ago saying of the natives. " if he can’t eat it drink it or f… It he doesn’t want to know it"
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So how old is George now 
, I would of thought that he would be coming up to his eighties if not older. It’s great to know that he is still around and it would be even better if he had any old photos to show us .
He’s in his mid eighties and had heart bypass surgery three years back.
He has a brand new computer system still in the boxes. He says he’s too old for new technology. I say he’s crazy. It would give him so much pleasure.
I hope to be travelling down to the west country in March and If so will visit him and see what he may have in his archive.
That’s great news, tell him to get on here and share his very interesting experiences with us, I am sure that he will have many. There are not so many of the old fellows left now and if they don’t get there tales down soon they will be lost forever.
Has he still got that bloody big Bowie knife that he used to carry around with him .
Hi. jazzandy.
Sorry about the mistake on the earliest truck I drove I put 1984 mammoth major it should have been 1948 put it down to a seniour moment
maurice.
I’d love to know what the ride was like on those eight wheel rigids. I never had the pleasure of driving one. I would a imagine it was Heaven compared with the bumpy ride of an artic.