Hi Robert and Dave, I remember a couple of lads who went across Turkey in Foden Fleetmasters and as far as I know they never had any problems with them. The story has it that Foden built three left hand drive motors to go out to the Middle East and at the last minute the customer didn’t come up with the money. Somebody mentioned it to the boss of Dow Freight who put in a ridiculous low offer which was accepted. He sold one (no doubt for a profit), kept one and a subbie called Stan Warmbold (Bullets wife’s uncle) bought the other.
The first time that I stopped at The Londra Camp in Istanbul I came across a Foden belonging to Dromedary Freight from New Mills near Glossop. It certainly looked the business on it’s way home with a green tilt covered in mud, with a picture of a camel on the tilt, a huge belly tank underneath and a long tow bar attached to the chassis.
When I joined Trucknet some thirty years later I exchanged a couple of P.M’s. with Trucker Ash and in one of them I just happened to mention about this Dromedary Freight Foden so I was quite surprised when he sent me this photo but without the green tilt.
Seeing that it’s Easter and we all like a good read, why don’t you make yourself a nice cup of tea, butter yourself a Hot Cross Bun (a trailer box is optional) and lets dig the sand off this old story from Hughie Ashton. This in my opinion, along with The Dartford Tunnel Donkey 
were the best two threads on Trucknet.
With grateful thanks to Biffo for taking the time to post it. 
LAST OUT OF IRAN.
I did 2 trips to Teheran after the Shah was disposed this was the second and last as you read on you will understand why. While working for Funstons I was offered loads of money to do a quick trip, loaded up and an uneventful trip down to Teheran, as I had been previously I knew what to expect at the border. Not many trucks about kept a low profile dont make eye contact with anyone, yes Sir no Sir paper work done off to teheran. Hard drive down but with a thermos full of hot water for in cab refreshments and cassette playing I was flying.Pushed as far as the eyes would let me until I saw some Turks parked up,had a chat with them they were sleeping and then on to customs in Teheran so I stayed with them, safety in numbers.Next morning we all had cay together and I said I would see them in the parking at customs. Arrived customs paperwork done tipped no problem.Now it gets interesting,from my previous trip I knew that diesel was a problem to buy,and also to get it out of Iran,the border guards were not to keen seeing 400 gallons leaving but a bit of bribery and you never know,the worst that could happen is thay would empty your tanks.I had been driving M/E for a few years and had been to Iran several times and I had met a man who owned a filling station and the last time I was there filled me up for hard currency, so off I went to see him.Yes he says I will fill you up tonight when its dark, price was negotiated,terrific.Come into the office for a drink so we chatted and drank the Irani version of Coke,the real stuff was banned,darkness fell I drew up to the pump and he sends out his man to creep under the trailer and fill the belly tank up and then the two road tanks,job done the price for the diesel had been in £ sterling so I very happily paid him.We had another coke and he tells me he has a son who owns a hotel in London thats nice I said,he says to me could I take a small gift to him.Oh,oh I hear you say DRUGS,no a simple tea set tea glasses and silver plated holders you would find anywhere and a book of the Koran,it all seemed ok and having taken his diesel I felt obliged and it would only be a bit out of my way home,and of course the price that I had paid for the diesel wouldn’t be what was on the expense sheet.
Back to the border now to get through with the fuel, I had travelled back alone and was hoping not to draw to much attention to myself,cleared the customs at the bottom of the hill now for passport control at the top of the hill, final control and out into Turkey.Arrive at the top of the hill lots of Turkish trucks as usual not any European trucks I try and mingle in with the Turks nip across and get my passport signed out.Every thing is done free to go no body has shown any interest in diesel I think I have cracked it.As usual its a bit chaotic with trucks pushing and shoving I’m sitting there waiting for a gap to shoot through when I spot a group of militia coming my way and by the way everybody is jumping to attention they aren’t the normal squaddies.I pretend I haven’t seen them I try shunting forward but this nasty man indicates with his rifle which is pointing at me to stop.Control meester! I try to explain all finished,Bos(turkish for empty) no Meester control,ball ■■■■■ I thought nearly got away with the diesel,no its not the diesel they want to check but a cab control,not a problem have a look, they rummage around the cab lose interest and just about to go when one of them spots the trailer boxes,Open I’m told,Ok again I have no reason to worry nothing in there except tins of food dented with no labels gas stove usual drivers stuff all except a box containing a tea set for a bloke who has a hotel in London.I hadn’t tried to hide it as I hadn’t considered it to be an issue,well these guys who were from the Revolutionary Guard certainly were making it an issue.Greed is a funny thing, I was still worrying about the diesel that would have been nothing compared to what was about to happen.
I still had my passport from earlier and my wallet,and being a smoker a packet of ■■■■ in my pocket.This was going nowhere fast lots of raised voices and looking at me lots of guns when one who seemed to be in charge leads me off to a block of buildings by the pI still had my passport from earlier and my wallet,and being a smoker a packet of ■■■■ in it.
Another bloke in army uniform speaks some English and tells me they are sending teaset to Tabriz to be valued,and meanwhile I would stay in a room next door.He is not to keen to talk with me and keeps looking at the other man and appeared to be scared of him.
Anyway best keep quiet and let them decide whats going to happen I decided against offering any form of bribe in case I made the situation worse.They put me into a room (cell) where to my surprise were several Asian looking men teens and older both of us wary of each other.Time for a ■■■ and review the situation, I offered the ■■■■ round but only one person took one the rest looked like I had offered them a poison pill,the one who had taken my ■■■ introduced himself and said he was a student Doctor he spoke good English I asked him why he was there and he explained he wanted to go to England but he didn’t have a passport,so why are you here and how do you expect to get to England I asked.I had met for the first time illegal immigrants going to Europe,20 dollars bung the Irani guards would put them on a bus for Turkey no passport the Turks would send them on to Bulgaria and so on.He also informed me that the British embassy was closed in Teheran but the Swiss embassy would help any British passport holder,how he knew all this I have either forgotten or it didn’t sink in with what was going on.We chatted off and on its getting to afternoon and he says to me that if I gave him my name and address he would notify the Swiss embassy when he got to Turkey,I thought about this and gave him my name and address but the wrong house number,I thought that might be giving him too much information as I really didn’t think he would do what he said.It was sometime after I got home that I discovered that my wife had a strange call from the Board of Trade asking her if she knew my where abouts, I can only assume that the Asian guy did what he said he would do and that was a lesson that I have carried with me ever since.
They came for me a little later and took me to a Revolutionary Guard HQ in Tabriz no talking just a shove and a little aggresion and I was in a proper cell on my own with just an old matteress on the floor and some large cardboard boxes.Here I stayed for several days no contact with anyone but the guards who used to come in shout at me in Farsi show me their guns I would tell them to f….k off and that’s how it continued Iwas getting a touch scared but the only thing they would say in English was who had given me the stuff to take to England and if I told them they would let me go,I thought that if I told who it was I could well be up against the firing squad as well as him so I said I didn,t know it was just a man in the Customs in Teheran.I had been round the cell looking for a camera but I couldn’t see one and after a couple of hours decided that there wasn’t one.I was getting bored so I decided to have a look in the cardboard boxes so I moved the matteress over and leant against them so if they looked in they would see I was using them as a back rest I very carefully opened up the boxes to have a look and you would never guess,they were full of Condoms,Durex to be precise,this was before aids was really known about so they could only be used to prevent little Iranis. I sat there with a smile on my face it seemed to have a touch of irony about it.I sat there for a while playing with a staple I had removed from one of the boxes when I realised it had a sharp point to it.
I sat there for several hours jabbing the sharp staple into the foil packets and then resealing the boxes,hoping I wasn’t going to be around when there was a population explosion.No worries there the next day I was taken to court and accused of smuggling antiquities from Iran, no defence I was fined 10,000 US dollars ,you pay,no I cant I said well that will be 5 years then.I knew that eventually I could get the money so I could get out but I hung on to see what would happen.I had been adopted by some Turkish drivers who were in for bringing in watches, gold, any thing that could be sold.They couldn’t speak English but a bit of German they asked the guards for a blackboard and I wrote words in English and they put the Turkish word so after a while we were able to make sense of each other,they were absolute diamonds they would never let me pay for anything like food,Turks are very fussy they will only eat fresh food so a trustee was used to go to a local restaurant and get a takeaway 3 square meals a day all the chai I could drink and all the Marlboro I could smoke.They used to tease me that today I would be taken to the barber and hair shaved off to be ready for my prison photo,this happened every morning and sure enough the guard appeared one morning and called me out my mates were all cheering and laughing I said I will see you later.The guards took me right out of the prison which I thought was strange one of them spoke really good english he said to me today you go home when I asked him where we were going, I was staggered, as we walked towards the court there in front of me was an old pal from Pan Express, Dave Telford and a the little fat guy who worked for The Company up on the border as a helper through Customs for drivers. He said when Judge says you pay you say yes,I looked at Dave through tears he’s saying its ok just say yes I have the money.I am straight into court and its done I am free,outside court the guards are shaking my hand these were just regular guys doing a job and wishing me well.I spoke to the one who could speak English to say to my Turkish friends goodbye and thanks.Dave and the fat Irani get me in the car and we make back to the border.Dave explains that if you work the fine into Irani Rials the exchange rate on the black market was only something like £300 and that there were several drivers from Pans up at the border who had chipped in to make the money,I was absolutely gutted with love for those guys.
Sounds a sad,but familiar tale.I managed to keep some and invested[if that’s the right word]in this and 50 reindeer
