Ah Ron … same rocks !!! some as big as the trucks!!
I thought this thread had gone quiet ? Ron
Nice one Backsplice your truck looks brand new!! I was " lucky" to go up Taif twice in a storm , one time !!! the rain had blocked the road with boulders, this was at night, we where all parked up ? I went to the Police post and got them to understand that one of Trans Arabia trucks had broken down out side the Kings Palace in Taif the police said wait awhile ? Then he said OK you go , I drove up in heavy rain dogging rocks and diggers ,and got to the truck with a foot brake valve problem , The second time was on a breakdown in Khamish the rain that night was just rain until I got to the top ? Then it got Torrential like I had never seen before , that bad the roads where washed away ,very memorable , Taif was great ,so different from the desert roads , Ron
ronhawk:
This photo of 116 , shows off my handy work of the Spare Wheel carrier that I fabricated for the driver , notice the cup shaped half moon at the underside and the spinning butterfly to hold it tight , this did not stop the cooling of the engine and can be seen many years latter still doing its job, certainly the most photographed MAC in our fleet Ron
Impressive spare wheel carrier, Ron!
Followers of this thread might be interested in a new posting on the Simon International thread, mentioning Caravan Trucking (with pics); and also a piece on Saudi ‘internals’ in Jeddah posted by DEANB on the Middle-East Not Astran thread (here’s the link:) viewtopic.php?f=35&t=119380&start=360
Robert
Thanks for the invite to the other thread R 52 ,I did browse through and found it interesting !! But Trans Arabia ? Was confined to Jeddah with all the aspects of trucking in extreme conditions ,Starting from scratch with refurbish A series no A/C ,in a God forsaken hole , the constant smell that hit you with the heat was a shock to all the lads that stuck it out they have my praise . Then there’s the work load ? The 40+ tons min in a town with manhole covers missing and carnage all around, Dead animals rotting the flies it was the ultimate test for the men that took it on the chin ,well done to our lads This is Trans Arabia, there’s a lot more to be told , the mad dogs living in the trailer park where bloody frightening at night , more stories from this sh-t hole where we lived ,Ron
Occasionally we would go down town Jeddah for an open air film show , at the British Embassy , sitting there in a dusty flat disused Tennis court watching the film,with moths and winged creatures hitting the 20ft screen ? To me it felt good , sort of a treat ? Walking round the Kings palace walls the scruffy guards in there tumbled down century boxes had photo,s all round of criminals , that where on there wanted list This photo below I remember well,we where on the roof watching the block of flats go up in flames and the Helicopter,dipping his bucket in the sea that was about .5 minutes away I would have thought they where Brits with there skilful flying ! Ron
I Wrote about the dogs in the trailer park ? They where frightening the pack leader had a right OSFpaw that had swollen twice as big as the others and would fight to keep out any dogs that came in !! There was about a dozen some with pups lying in the shade under the trailers coupling up at night was scary with only the light of the unit they where aggressive,This park got shut , owing to one of our drivers making eyes ■■?to A dark unveiled Bint , Who hung out her washing on her balcony facing the park ,her husband was the local Mujahideen,we found out latter ■■ This bloke went berserk trying to crash through the fence in his Land cruiser causing considerable damage to his vehicle ? The park was shut and we continued to work in the street .until we moved to a park nearer the docks , I now know why they threw there goat skins over our fence? they where jealous of Bronzed bodies !! .there was a new road cut through the desert just outside Jeddah and the old planes where ether side of the wire , I got a wooden propeller from the tip ,and hung it over the bar in the Villa Ron
Mentioning planes ? Here is a shot that JD Has of this fighter that apparently ran out of fuel ( Not in Saudi ) it landed on a ship lucky lucky pilot ? It must have been a Hawker Harrier ■■ Some one will corect me if it’s wrong !! Ron
Love your evocative pictures of the mountains Ron. Even that doesn’t totally convey the staggering climbs and drops, and also there seems to be a dual carriageway there ‘Luxury - you were lucky!’
Planes. Can’t remember those in the picture, but Jeddah airport - the old one - was nearly in the centre of the city by '76. The Saudi Air Force used to do circuits and bumps in their fighters, and to be anywhere near the perimeter fence when they were doing this was to be deafened for the day. You could feel the thrust right through your body - more powerful than any rock concert.
I was in Khamis when I was TM, visiting a customer, and boarding the 737, the pilot was at the nose wheel, saying his prayers to Mecca. His shoes were all tramped down at the back. I have to say, it didn’t fill me with confidence. Particularly as the flight’s next stop was Taif, so we flew up the Asir mountain range and it was very bumpy!
Do you remember the Saudia flight (Tristar I think) that caught fire on the ground in Riyadh. Air Traffic control could hear the pilot saying his prayers, but for some reason he didn’t release the doors and all on board died. The plane was there for ages afterwards, a sad reminder.
John
Hi John. I must confess the photo of the duel carriageway was a much later shot , I was running out of photos and thought that this one illustrated the boulders that would fall down ,Taif mountain if you look closely you will see there’s even lights in the centre of the duel carriageway ,I am lead to believe that this is now a cynic drive for cars only , the old road was the hairy one , day or night ,!! ! Coming in on the Try Star. Between the block of flats at night looking in there windows you could almost see what they eating there was always talk of the PAW landing on the runway that had just dug up and there was Trench across this disused runway this plane landed ? Then had its under carriage ripped Out , The picture you paint of the pilot praying at the front wheel says it all ■■ Exciting times we lived in , the internal flights ? There was no such order of cues it was manic ? Now it’s the same here and that’s on the Bus !! Har Har , Ron
Glad tiding of great joy I bring to you and all man kind , to all on this thread ,Home. or Abroad have a great Christmas, Ron
ronhawk:
Glad tiding of great joy I bring to you and all man kind , to all on this thread ,Home. or Abroad have a great Christmas, Ron
Nice one, Ron! And a peaceful Yuletide to you too. Robert 
Best wishes to all the old Trans Arabian Truckers (sorry, Lorry Drivers), and management, MM & KB, on this thread. Ah, the good old days! Actually, they weren’t better - it was just that we were young, and as you know, ‘youth is wasted on the young!’
John
Salahm Allykuhm Well it looks like we are all going to be a bit busy over the next couple of weeks so I,ll take this chance to wish everybody a happy safe festive time enjoy your time off and we,ll hear from you all next year !!!when you get back off leave !!!
Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year to all my sadik s backsplice SARAMAT
Inshallah
ronhawk:
Glad tiding of great joy I bring to you and all man kind , to all on this thread ,Home. or Abroad have a great Christmas, Ron
Except your neighbours of course!
How they must have fumed when you brought that illuminated Mac down your road. And when you decided to do the same to the outside of your house, they were absolutely livid. Oh how I laughed when I saw how they had tried to get their own back! The bar stewards!!
So Ronaldo, it’s nearly the end of another year. Stay fit, stay health, stay wealthy and keep your vest tucked in!
Kind regards to all who have contributed in so many ways to this interesting and varied thread. I look forward to 2016 and more of the same.
PS. Ron, I’m going to come a calling very early in the New Year to help you take your lights down.( Ha Ha). Get the custard creams in!
Just a quick one to get back up to the top of the page …I just picked up my copy of Heritage commercials (a month behind you in the UK ) and there was an article about the Middle east etc this was attached so in the absence of someone else posting… here it is
Nice one Backsplice , Jeddah , John Davies and young Jerry Cook bloody hell he was young then looks as if he might be going on the BA Tri Sar bound for old Blighty ? That’s the only reason to get dressed up for in Jeddah , unless you know something I don’t Know ?!!! ( have a Fair Dinkum Christmas , ) Ron
Here,s another for Ron
Pre Christmas story of the " Good "old days ,our house was on the railway bank, the chicken pen was at the bottom of the garden , a rare commodity in the early 1940s and there was a spate of robberies in the area food was on ration every body wanted a Christmas Bird ?!! Not that Martin ,So my dad in his wisdom moved the chickens into the Pantry ? This was under the stairs about three steps down in the house . No windows a dark cold cellar of a place with the Electric meter on the wall Well they where there for a week or more chicken sh-t all over the place .they would fly up onto the food shelves Knocking over the tins of Corned beef And cartons of dried egg . On the night the lights would go out? and nobody wanted to move from the coal fire in the freezing cold weather to put a shilling in the meter?? Because of the Rhode Island reds, in the pitch black !!! so it was left to my Gran SALLY ? A good old stick !! well we heard her screaming ? Nobody moved !! She was having us on ? So we all thought ? But she was frightened by the fowl and had slipped on the stairs falling against the electric meter on the wall ? She had badly gashed her arm ,it was cut to the bone ? All pandemonium started bumping into one another trying to find the shilling that had been dropped in the chicken sh-t down where SALLY had fallen in pitch black ?chickens scawking flying about !!! The lights eventually came on and SALLY was taken to the hospital to get stitched up , the chickens where all killed for Christmas and we all had a bloody good time , seasons greeting to all Ron
Feast your eyes on this show of might !!! SARAMAT in the beginning …stenciled on the bumper bar Sheikh Abdul Bin Ma fuse I think he was part of the Saudi Royal family what ever it certainly was an IMPRESSIVE sight ■■? I was proud to be part of it even now thinking it was almost 40 years ago what an ERA My Volvo was No SCO 73 so that gives an Idea of the enormity of the operation
inshalah
inshalah
