Impressive pictures and info! On the motorbike you probably imitated Arthur Fonzarelli from Happy Days?
For the ones who are especially interested in the KW C500, herewith a specification and picture in the oilfields
Thank you very much ERF continental ,i wonder if any of the drivers took any notice of the instructions, i could guarantee if it was in England in the 50s60 70s the booklet would have been taken out of the lorry, however then the large American trucks did need to been driven properly…
How do the trucks on ICE ROAD TRUCKERS sit and the trucks idle away all night???s does it not do any damage ,i would never had done it anyway ,POLAND,EAST GERMANY at night, illegal in GERMANY i just had a good sleeping bag balaclava, gloves.
I never had one minutes instruction from anyone ,ever ,and i would not be on my own. that was not the way it worked in 1965
I do have some experience working in ■■■■■■■ Daventry IN 1980 [read “MY DRIVING HISTORY” … DELEGATE TO PAGE, GOD KNOWS ]in this forum …so i do understand the workings of kv12, kv16 as i worked with others, from deburring the block, to the finished engine , only in a labouring capacity ,also new the build sequence…all the bits ,bolt numbers part numbers, even the cam shaft keys…stamped the numbers on the main bearings…torqued them up, i have never forgotten it.
But the lure of driving also never left me and then my EUROPEAN started .
Another ex-■■■■■■■ employee over here!
@Ron…did you (and/or previously Jerry) keep a logbook on the fleet? I assume you
had cards to registrate major repairs, mileage and also life-cycle?
If you have (somewhere) it would be nice to view or even to generate a listing on
the entire fleet. Or a major step to write history, TA and other company’s
Did CF (Consolidated Freightways with its founder James Leland of Freightliner-trucks)
had any operations in SA?
Have a nice evening…I guess a ride on your motorbike in the count(r)y?
Trans Arabia records of servicing where kept by Jonnie Davies he went out from Day one ,he was a very good mechanic he had help with a chap called the , Telford Burner ? when oils and filter change where due !! The repairs where coming in quite often when I was there, mainly due to the heavy loads ,that the trucks had to pull ,Mac engines ,clutches brakes diffs ,the hub reductions on the ERF where tested beyond all reason, the sheer weight of the heavy loads was cause of the oil was boiled out ,mainly because of the mountain the trucks had to climb even at night it was still hot ,this created some problems with spares ,chaps coming back off leave where carrying sun gears & half shafts back to Jeddah, I often matched up tyres to have equal drive across the single axle ,The turning of these trucks in tight situation with 40ton trying to tip on the turn table ,you had to be aware with the poor state of the roads , to be honest the repairs , just had to be carried out regardless of paper work , and yes the ERFs where a Great truck ,and I feel saddened to see the photos of there neglect. Ron
Unforgetable and pure memories Ron! Your experiences are highly appreciated!
Few know the severe and real conditions to operate and maintain trucks in the M/E
but because of you TA’s we all now can re-educate ourselves and learn from it. TOP!
Trans Arabia. This is the direct result of turning to tight and touching the brake at the same time the heavy 40 ft rocked on the 5th wheel and tipped over the single drive ERF unit I attended this avoidable accident Ron
Wow, what happened with this chassis? Scrap for parts or a new window and make-up?
It’s time for a TA-reunion…Jerry, John, Ken, yourself and Robert…I am convinced you
all together have a lot of gems to deal with and put it on paper finally
The Mazola Mac , this story deserves to be told again. Every body who has driven an artic with a heavy load and finding that the time has come to change down when going up a steep hill! As soon has you dip the clutch the load immediately reminds you that it is heavy and maybe you should have dropped another gear as well . Well this is what happened to ,Mr Perfect alias Tony Tomkins , he earnt this title long before this catastrophic inferno ,that is about to unfold , he was ,and I hope still going ? a tall guy with a bit of something about him , he was sort off ,not one of us , more like one of them!! but I don’t think so ?it was as if he was better than the Ordinary T/A driver more refined and quiet with it. When coming into a bunch of lads we all seemed to go quiet as if he was From a different planet ! Then as soon as he left we would laugh !!and carry on .Well sure enough he had heavy load .this load was heavy heavy ,we did not how heavy as he pulled away with black smoke coming out the stack ,late afternoon to climb the notorious Tief mountain ! Getting to the bottom waiting his turn to go up at midnight, I can see him writing to his beloved ? Which he did all the time . Much longer than this story I might ad , his turn eventually came and off he went facing this 2-3hr drag to the top , struggling past the tin huts some 2hrs later he must have known that this load may be more than the normal 40ton ■■?He kept the Mac going , then ! then! Then bloody hell I can only imagine him having that feeling that we have all had !!! the times come to drop yet another gear red hot conditions he went for it ,now the Mac in my opinion was A bit agriculture with a slow gear change unlike our ERF, I can only imagine the feeling he had !when the hoss reared its head when TT selected the only gear left ,and then driving on when the front end came back to earth, well he must have thought thank God,? it carnt get any hotter can it ? To be continued Ron
@Ron…herewith some old ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ I guess long before your time in operations though.
By the way…had all drivers at TransArabia their own lorry or was it more what was available
at the moment. I assume there was a scheme as you all had some weeks leave after several weeks
A/J well of coarse I recognise-all those parts ,as Wirlinmerlin would say elimentry my dear Whatson . Most important was the liner shim to have uniform protrusion across the block to seal the fire ring this was not in your illustrations, the ■■■■■■■ engine was then, and sure still is a great engine Ron
ronhawk:
A/J well of coarse I recognise-all those parts ,as Wirlinmerlin would say elimentry my dear Whatson . Most important was the liner shim to have uniform protrusion across the block to seal the fire ring this was not in your illustrations, the ■■■■■■■ engine was then, and sure still is a great engine Ron
Which company ran that B-series in the picture, Ron? Robert
Part Two the Mozola Mac ,Tony could have been playing Jonny Cash !! I fell into A burning ring of fire he went down down down and the flames went higher ,unknowing to Tony that was exactly what was happening under his sleeper box just the back of his driving seat , he must have been an absolutely terrified to think he had just driven up this steep mountain rd for 2 hrs only to have this inferno develop right under his seat from the sleeper box , trying to park this flaming monster of at least 85tons !!Buttons coming out on the dash air pipes hissing as this outfit Stalls. Tony had to bale out,he certainly has my praise,can you imagine the shear panic trying to pile rocks behind the wheels avoiding a runaway back to Jeddah !! With trucks pulling round him,in pitch black, and red hot, with horns blaring , Tony you did bloody marvelus it’s a wander you where not killed .We all know what really happened !! The Mazola gallon of cooking oil tipped and dripped on to the red hot exhaust,!! I remember it well this was perched on top of the chains and stretchers in the tool box under the sleeper cab . The chicken was in the cooler box,this was the most expensive fry up in the history of Trans Arabia and it was bad luck you almost made it to the top it was the extra ,20tons that broke the camels back !! you where proved to be almost perfect after all !! Tony Cope and myself recovered this wreck two days later Ron
ronhawk:
A/J well of coarse I recognise-all those parts ,as Wirlinmerlin would say elimentry my dear Whatson . Most important was the liner shim to have uniform protrusion across the block to seal the fire ring this was not in your illustrations, the ■■■■■■■ engine was then, and sure still is a great engine Ron
Ron…on Robert’s question…is this ERF B-series for (Al)Tamimi as in later Taseco?
Nice day, A-J
Note: Keep up the good work of reporting and keeping the memories alive!
Check out this multi purpose trailer including double Spare carrier ! Looks like JP has left the evidence of a encounter with a Camel ? !!! There’s a hair on his OS leg !!! Ron
ronhawk:
Check out this multi purpose trailer including double Spare carrier ! Looks like JP has left the evidence of a encounter with a Camel ? !!! There’s a hair on his OS leg !!! Ron
robert1952:
ronhawk:
Check out this multi purpose trailer including double Spare carrier ! Looks like JP has left the evidence of a encounter with a Camel ? !!! There’s a hair on his OS leg !!! Ron
RON
Where did you get this one from then! BRILLIANT would have been good for the brochure!!! :
see the trailer is Ex S Jones stripped down tilt trailer part of the original batch of equipment
cheers
ken
Just of interest to all the lads who drove down the Chester rd Streetly in there blood relatedERFs you will remember this Foden Garage where I worked ,at one time , I well remember Old Sam the gaffer who I heard say ,to an Irish chap,who had been vaccinated with a gramophone needle ■■ On a very cold day Shut that door !! He did !! Then Sam said ? Not from this side !!! He was a man who drove Foden Steam tractors in Africa , this is very True , He was a legend in his own life time. The high pitched roar of a Foden 2 stroke pulling hard was something never to be forgotten, Ron
Just of interest to all the lads who drove down the Chester rd Streetly in there blood relatedERFs you will remember this Foden Garage where I worked ,at one time , I well remember Old Sam the gaffer who I heard say ,to an Irish chap,who had been vaccinated with a gramophone needle ■■ On a very cold day Shut that door !! He did !! Then Sam said ? Not from this side !!! He was a man who drove Foden Steam tractors in Africa , this is very True , He was a legend in his own life time. The high pitched roar of a Foden 2 stroke pulling hard was something never to be forgotten, Ron
