A few more in no particular order and thanks 
for your appreciation VCC.
Oily
oiltreader:
A few more in no particular order and thanks
Oily
Another fascinating and interesting set of photo’s Oily. Thanks for posting them. I hope that people are enjoying them as much as I do.
Interesting to see Novosibirsk. I never got out that far due to the work that I was allocated but love to see what I missed.
ChrisArbon:
0
Merc 6x4’s all lined up.
A very interesting photo Chris. I presume that it is out in the East, going by the paint scheme and countryside.
If the colour of the mud is right then that photo looks like it was taken somewhere between Bishkek and Symkent… I know its a big area but that sort of grey mud is usually indicative to the north side of the Tien Shan mountains. There were a load of Mercs working out of Tashkent Ory Ocky had a few of them pulling fridges East West through Iran to Turkey …
Micky T…Yes I must have been a bit of a Johnny come lately compared to when you did it…
The photo of Dave’s Iveco … the back of Nick Bull’s Astran tilt pulled by his home bru Scania…
Jeff…
Jelliot:
If the colour of the mud is right then that photo looks like it was taken somewhere between Bishkek and Symkent… I know its a big area but that sort of grey mud is usually indicative to the north side of the Tien Shan mountains. There were a load of Mercs working out of Tashkent Ory Ocky had a few of them pulling fridges East West through Iran to Turkey …Micky T…Yes I must have been a bit of a Johnny come lately compared to when you did it…
The photo of Dave’s Iveco … the back of Nick Bull’s Astran tilt pulled by his home bru Scania…
Jeff…
Hi Jeff. I guessed that it was out East, but I knew that you would know more accurately where it was. Chris will no doubt tell us, at some stage.
No. I didn’t mean that you were a Johnny come lately. Russia was the same as the Middle East. The early Middle East days were in the mid 60s. My first trip to Baghdad was in 1979 and I ran there until 1983, but not all of the time. I did 2 trips a year. So, many people had already done it by the time that I went there.
Russia opened up in phases. When I went there in 1981 very few British drivers had been there. In 1990, when my adventure started virtually all of the work was to Moscow. That was because the Soviet government were the main customers and they wanted the goods in Moscow. There were also the Trade fairs, which were also mainly held in Moscow. But, as it opened up we began to travel further afield, but most of the work was still in the West of Russia and the Ukraine.
I know that Cyril, Gordon and Danny went to Almaty in 1993 for an Oil and Gas exhibition. That was probably when Kazak had untied itself from Moscow and had money of its own to spend. Then through 1994 you began to see other British drivers passing through on the way out to there. And that increased in 1995, which was when I called it a day and came back to the U.K.
Like with all trucking work you can only do what is available at the time and what gets allocated to you. Which is why it is a shame that the opportunities for British drivers to work in Europe has shrunk so dramatically. Back in the good old days, as you know, hundreds of us shipped out to Europe every week. Now that is just a trickle. But, after Brexit, maybe the work will come back. However, modern drivers may have to start using custom’s documents if we are outside of the Single Market and Custom’s Union. Time will tell.
No… I didn’t feel like a Johnny come lately, either with the Russian or the Middle East stuff…After all it was stiil there , still in the same place ( give or take a few millimetres here or there.) I just took the opportunities that suited me as they came along. There were a few that were offered that I let slip by, usually because I was settled in to job at the time they arose… But when I got a bit unsettled or had found something else that I wanted to have a go at I was off in a new direction…I’d been offered a Russian job a few years earlier… late 80’s early 90’s but the guy running it ( in my opinion was very inexperienced… naive… gullible )…and I’d just started a good position in Australia, which had been a hard slog to get another working visa so I didn’t want stuff it up…
I was very close to saying yes to it, but I’m glad I didn’t get the Russian job as it was dodgy from the start, and it folded very quick with loads of TIP/ Central trailers, and hire trucks getting abandoned all over the place… The guy running it ■■■■■■ of to the Philippines/Thailand/ Indo China somewhere never to be seen again… I’ve always had the feeling that he was set up from the start by the Russian end…
When I did get into it I was actually ready for it and even bought myself a few teach yourself Russian tapes… When your down the bottom end it’s more kind of an adapted Turkish dialect that the locals speak… probably something to do with the ruminants of the old Ottoman empire… or maybe they just think Turkish is cool … ( saxophone players )…( see if that one gets edited out ) … Actually most of them were OK but just like any where there’il always be a few around…
If it ever settles down that way I wouldn’t mind spending a few months running the old silk roads just to have bit of a look about… I wouldn’t mind going to Ashkhabad… But Turkman Ali… Hmmmmmmm… and it makes me wonder…
As for my books… not going to happen any time soon… the offer made by R T wasn’t good… looked like it was going to be a right hack job by the time they had edited it…very conversational…( I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad thing)… I don’t think it would sit well with our readers… To all you guys on here that’ve been successful at it… top marks… well done…
I’ve got other ways of getting stuff out there now… and it’s not for me… no really… I know what I did, I was there, I think I can still remember most of it … but if I can leave something for my son to have a look at later on in life… or maybe when I get dementia someone can give me a can of Irn Bru and run it for me…
Well that’s my Sunday morning rant over and I’ve just watched Spaghetti no Junction on Ferdy Top Run’s site… I used to run with AR GS… sometimes … &(^R^%#@$^& for want of a better word… "I like to stop and do a bit of fishing " said Pat … Not when I was with him he didn’t… Heathrow straight to Borg… 3 hours off then right down to Napoli… Ahhhh the good old days…
I’m not sure what’ll happen with Betrix. I would assume there’ll still be some kind of trade agreement. I can’t see the benefit of all the countries being alienated form each other with hundreds of trucks and rail wagons sitting at borders for days at a time just waiting for a stamp on a bit of paper…I suppose there’s pros and coms to every decision… some more than others… I don’t think I’m going to be to involved in it… but it’ll be interesting to sit back and watch it all unfold… A good analogy would be to watch the voting on the European Song Contest …France doesn’t usually give to many votes to Britain…Nuff said… One thing’s for sure… what we’re being told and what’s actually happening will probably be 2 different things … Customs strikes… they were always a bit of a laugh… I’ll go and cut some grass now…
Jeff…
Vodka Cola Cowboy:
ChrisArbon:
0
Merc 6x4’s all lined up.A very interesting photo Chris. I presume that it is out in the East, going by the paint scheme and countryside.
Yes, the photo is from out East. I found it and a whole load of others by googling “Kazakhstan Trucks” and “Turkmenistan Trucks.” This a great thread. I have a burning ambition to drive the Silk Road when I retire and the posts on here really stoke the fire.
By the way, Jeff.
Good to see you on here again
ChrisArbon:
Vodka Cola Cowboy:
ChrisArbon:
0
Merc 6x4’s all lined up.A very interesting photo Chris. I presume that it is out in the East, going by the paint scheme and countryside.
Yes, the photo is from out East. I found it and a whole load of others by googling “Kazakhstan Trucks” and “Turkmenistan Trucks.” This a great thread. I have a burning ambition to drive the Silk Road when I retire and the posts on here really stoke the fire.
By the way, Jeff.
Good to see you on here again
Sounds like a very good ambition Chris. Hope that you get to achieve it.
Dirty Dan:
Here are some from the kazak thread.Danne
Some great photo’s there Dan. Thanks for putting them on here.
You know Jeff. My book started out at 280,000 words. When I put it up for publishing I was told that it had to be 70,000 to 80,000 words maximum.
I had not written it originally for publishing, but for my family to read. So that my grandchildren and great grandchildren knew what I had done.
My Great, great how many times Grandfather had fought in the Peninsula Campaign and at the battle of Waterloo, under the Duke of Wellington. My brother and I always said that we wished that he had written his story down so that two centuries later we could read what he had done.
But, to get my book published, I had to precis it down to those limits. That was because if it had been published at 280,000 words length the cost would have been astronomical and the price of the finished article would have been too high, when it came for sale. So, the editor at the publishers hacked it to bits and I had to pick up the pieces and stitch it together. However, I had enough tales left over to make a second book, which is with them and may be published later in the year.
Sorting the book out and getting it published gave me something to do, because I have terminal cancer and needed something to fill my time. It proved that you can succeed at something even though you have been told that your time is up.
So, please try to get your book published mate. You know that there are lots of people on here who are fascinated with the Russian adventure and would greatly appreciate learning about your experiences.
Vodka Cola Cowboy:
You know Jeff. My book started out at 280,000 words. When I put it up for publishing I was told that it had to be 70,000 to 80,000 words maximum.
I had not written it originally for publishing, but for my family to read. So that my grandchildren and great grandchildren knew what I had done.My Great, great how many times Grandfather had fought in the Peninsula Campaign and at the battle of Waterloo, under the Duke of Wellington. My brother and I always said that we wished that he had written his story down so that two centuries later we could read what he had done.
But, to get my book published, I had to precis it down to those limits. That was because if it had been published at 280,000 words length the cost would have been astronomical and the price of the finished article would have been too high, when it came for sale. So, the editor at the publishers hacked it to bits and I had to pick up the pieces and stitch it together. However, I had enough tales left over to make a second book, which is with them and may be published later in the year.
Sorting the book out and getting it published gave me something to do, because I have terminal cancer and needed something to fill my time. It proved that you can succeed at something even though you have been told that your time is up.
So, please try to get your book published mate. You know that there are lots of people on here who are fascinated with the Russian adventure and would greatly appreciate learning about your experiences.
So sorry to hear about your illness Micky T. Keep fighting it and get that second book published.
sandway:
Vodka Cola Cowboy:
You know Jeff. My book started out at 280,000 words. When I put it up for publishing I was told that it had to be 70,000 to 80,000 words maximum.
I had not written it originally for publishing, but for my family to read. So that my grandchildren and great grandchildren knew what I had done.My Great, great how many times Grandfather had fought in the Peninsula Campaign and at the battle of Waterloo, under the Duke of Wellington. My brother and I always said that we wished that he had written his story down so that two centuries later we could read what he had done.
But, to get my book published, I had to precis it down to those limits. That was because if it had been published at 280,000 words length the cost would have been astronomical and the price of the finished article would have been too high, when it came for sale. So, the editor at the publishers hacked it to bits and I had to pick up the pieces and stitch it together. However, I had enough tales left over to make a second book, which is with them and may be published later in the year.
Sorting the book out and getting it published gave me something to do, because I have terminal cancer and needed something to fill my time. It proved that you can succeed at something even though you have been told that your time is up.
So, please try to get your book published mate. You know that there are lots of people on here who are fascinated with the Russian adventure and would greatly appreciate learning about your experiences.
So sorry to hear about your illness Micky T. Keep fighting it and get that second book published.
Thanks Brian. The book is at the publishers waiting for a decision as to whether to proceed or not. Because they pay all of the costs of publication, printing and publicity they are waiting to see how V.C.C. does before committing themselves to funding the new one.
Some more and good luck with health VCC. I would have a guess that the transporter has Volgas(GAZ) on board.
Oily
oiltreader:
Some more and good luck with health VCC. I would have a guess that the transporter has Volgas(GAZ) on board.
Oily
Hi Oily. Thanks very much for your good wishes and thanks again for some more great photo’s.
Some interesting points with the photo’s. The red Kamaz, in the first one. They were the workhorse and you saw hundreds of them around. They were built in Kazan. The “A.Z” at the back of the names meant Avto Zavod. (Auto Factory). I never figured out where the M in the name came from.
The second photo shows a Maz, (Minsk Avto Zavod) pulling the transporter. The cars on there are definitely Volga’s. In Moscow they were the taxi fleet. Painted yellow. They were awful to ride in. They stunk of cheap benzene and the exhaust fumes used to come in through the floor. I soon learned my lesson, not to ride in them if you had a hangover.
The 3rd photo has an old Maz, probably built in the 80s and the 4th a newer version. I reckoned that the cab of the newer version was probably modelled on the Scania 110 design.
The 5th one with all the slush reminds me of driving out there when the thaw was taking place. In the book, where I drenched all of the people at a bus stop in Donetsk, that is what the road was like at the time.
You can see in the 6th photo how times have changed regarding the roads. Back in the early 90s you would not have seen all of those Armco’s. Carriageways were separated by huge concrete blocks.
The Volvo in the 7th, from Rus Transavto, is interesting. After the end of the Soviet Union, Sovtransavto was split up and the Russian part of the firm changed its name.
The 8th is a Ukrainian registered Scania. Twenty years earlier the driver of that would have been driving a Maz or Kamaz.
I’ve had the great pleasure of reading Mick’s opus in its’ entirety! It’s stunningly great and if Old Pond don’t publish a second volume it will be a crime against humanity.
Jazzandy:
I’ve had the great pleasure of reading Mick’s opus in its’ entirety! It’s stunningly great and if Old Pond don’t publish a second volume it will be a crime against humanity.
Thanks for those kind words Andy. Perhaps I should engage you as my literary agent.
Jazzandy:
I’ve had the great pleasure of reading Mick’s opus in its’ entirety! It’s stunningly great and if Old Pond don’t publish a second volume it will be a crime against humanity.
Now that’s fighting talk, Andy! I have to say that Mick, like you, writes a damned good yarn - and I mean yarn in the sense of historical narrative. Thirty years ago nobody was publishing accounts of real-life trucking, written by drivers as opposed to journalists, outside the Long-Distance Diaries of Truck magazine. Nowadays this is becoming more and more recognised as a valid genre in its own right. The internet is littered with unedited e-books of this stuff, but real books will rule for a long time to come methinks. Good luck lads with any writing on the transport scene and don’t let anyone discourage you! Robert
robert1952:
Jazzandy:
I’ve had the great pleasure of reading Mick’s opus in its’ entirety! It’s stunningly great and if Old Pond don’t publish a second volume it will be a crime against humanity.Now that’s fighting talk, Andy! I have to say that Mick, like you, writes a damned good yarn - and I mean yarn in the sense of historical narrative. Thirty years ago nobody was publishing accounts of real-life trucking, written by drivers as opposed to journalists, outside the Long-Distance Diaries of Truck magazine. Nowadays this is becoming more and more recognised as a valid genre in its own right. The internet is littered with unedited e-books of this stuff, but real books will rule for a long to come methinks. Good luck lads with any writing on the transport scene and don’t let anyone discourage you! Robert
Thanks Robert. I hope that you are right because many drivers have real life stories, that are fascinating. Hopefully they will write their stories down and get them published.