Backsplice brilliant photos the one with the young lads all trying to salute with one knee up speaks a thousand words of good fun, I would have liked to have heard what they were told to say…? and they were watching the chap with the camera, doing the salute, one army ,and one navy salute…Brilliant.
sometimes us brits were quite cruel/ in what we got the foreigners to say, what they come out with used to be so funny… especially the bum boat men in the suezes canal area, you would say ANYTHING AND THEY WOULD REPEAT IT off pat, … OFF TOPIC
I was sort going in circles in Spain looking for a certain pack house ,you all know what I mean ,I pulled up at one ,walked in the cool of the pack house ,looking around, this young lad comes to me ,I handed my CMR to him and he said to me quite loud and dramatic [I LOVE LONDON] what I said “he repeated it to me " so I go on talking like a prat” blah de blah" about LONDON, any more lorries here then AND HE SAID IT AGAIN, the penny dropped, loads of woman packing, new exactly what was going on, so I said something very rude about him and Spain ,and very nice hand jesters [bankers etc] and he looks blanc, so after all those years I had been had…
Out of the frying pan Into the fire!!! Backsplice well done , we passed the chard remains of the bush fires when traveling in Oz for mile after mile after mile ? That water bowser looks the part , but the area of fires? must have been very dangerous to venture off road even in a 6x6 ,the men and women volunteers are the bravest to attempt to stop these Red hot fire storms ,and must be commended ,we have a neice out there , Noelle , there house had an underground bunker , this was out in the bush , and was burnt to the ground ? Soon after they sold it!! how fortunate was that ?thank Heaven , Ron
Aye Ron a firestorm right enough …I,m retired now (almost ) still on the books but no more front line stuff anymore thats for the young,un,s I feel I ve done my share (18 years )… anyway never mind fire ■■? what about DUST !!!
Now then Backsplice. !! That looks like a ■■■■ ,Yes I remember the dust storms of Saudi ? I wrote some time back that a police car ran Into the back of our TASECO ERF artic on the Jubail highway in a Shamal , the Cop was dead I think , John could not BELIEVE that I was not put in Jail ?!!! but I had been called on my radio to deal with this blow out !!! changing the NSF in a sand storm!!! the driver had stopped on the duel carriageway with soft sand on both sides unable to move placing a warning Triangle 150 yards back The cop ran over this before slamming into the Trailer ?!!! They where more frequent on the east side and really bad with visibility down to yards , the D10s constantly pushing back the dunes ,on the Abqake rd , the dust in Khobar was like yellow talcum powder and got into the smallest hole ? Trouble was we called it Rucker dust and you know what that is ? We had Ear ache and chest problems in those conditions , Ron
Heavy haulage in Ras Tanura !!! this truck looks a dead ringer for our ERF although we only pulled a 1/4. Of this weight?.. Har Har!!! well almost ? Ron
The top one is a Dutch-built FTF, Ron. And you’re right about the cabs, as they are both the short version of the Motor Panels Mk 4 cab, built in Coventry. Robert
Your thread never cesses to amaze me, what some photographs of the massive vessel /tank, I would have liked to have watched a video of how you loaded it was it off a ro-ro ,got to be? or was it lifted off a ship by floating crane. or was it on one special barge . just my curiosity ,thinking !it must have been RO-RO.details please RON. IN THE SECOND TRUCK PULLIN is some one doing a moonie in the screen or at sea it was called a spreader?
Well spotted DBP ,I have removed that shot in case there are recriminations ? How ever if by popular demand I can aways put it back , you must under stand that some of the material that I print although factual I had nothing to do with ? I was certainly working in Saudi at the time, and find the trucking stories interesting indeed , TASECO TMS did have tanks in our park, but nothing like the monsters that I have shown ? these tanks where transhipped using special barges Ron
John ? did you ever go to Al Qatif just out from Khobar towards Ras Tanura On the right there was a road that took us through some marsh ground with reeds on both sides of the rd out to a little fishing village with old fashioned dower boats , we bought some fish there, the people looked at my wife because her arms where showing ? I did take photos but unfortunately they got lost ,most interesting place,time had stood still there Red hot of cause, certainly left a memory with a small market , fish carried in shallow baskets covered with Flies , the picture below is typical of that Scene , the dwellings where very primitive with no windows or doors ,my wife saw a donkey in the lounge !!! and the upstairs was just an open to the elements ? It Realy was biblical Ron
HI RON, it was something I would have done [moon],and did. however where were them vessels manufactured please ,the engineering looks [not middle east].
Just a prompt here: Lorries of Arabia: ERF NGC Part 2 is now available via Old Pond Publishing. It is relevant to this thread because it contains a substantial amount of information with pictures about the Trans Arabia operation, as did the first Lorries of Arabia book!
Certainly went to Al Qatif, but can’t remember it - Odd what stays in the mind and what doesn’t! I think that it was one of Joe Finney (he who used to tell us tales of his uncle Tom, the famous footballer) from Preston’s favourite destinations. He used to sub from us at Caravan, but didn’t want any distance work - Riyadh? (only 600 miles round trip) Haven’t you got anything shorter? Well, couple of Al Qatifs but they both need delivering today! YES! that’ll do for me. ‘Gently away’ was his favourite saying.
About an hour’s drive, unload. An hour’s drive back. Reload, ‘Gently away’, unload, and back to the Heartbreak Hotel by about 6.00pm. Joe was happy with that!
Photo of a party on the roof at Pat Conway’s Villa in Al Khobar, from brother Andy’s Flickr site.
Half of me, you, Merlin and JD Longhorn. Despite Merlin’s Trans Arabia Tee shirt, this would be when you were both working for Taseco, maybe 83/84. Pat held great parties on that roof, and many people ended up in the large circular swimming pool he and I erected there. I’ll dig out some more photos and see if I can find if you or Merlin went swimming!
Thanks John , the photo shows us the happy times we all had in that desert heat ,we all kept going back to the sunshine year after year ? It was an adventure like no other ,so different from the work back home ,But it was all about the lads and the bonding together with tails that we all had in the prime of our lives? I can see Longhorn giving it some ? You where in on the stories as the banta circled the roof top , it was always a pleasure to get together , The mixed roof top parties I had in Khobar with friends from another company was bloody dangerous ?also the beach parties at half moon bay ? The one that stands out , started on Thursday with three cars and the tent blocking off the peninsular of shore line keeping out the Arabs from gorping at our girls they tried in vane to get close !! Getting there selfs. Bogged down in the sea , trying to jack up there cars in the wash was hilarious ,camping out over night was brilliant The sea lit up with lights as we swam in the dark ? The drink was flowing !!! well into the Friday late afternoon , Packing up we started to drive back ■■? I was well aware of the Pontiac estate car loading with one man driving with three women and three children the driver could not stand let alone drive ?so his wife Helen took the wheel ?the other car had driven off well we all know the score ? she drove!!! stoping just before the Saudi Air Force base !!! Peter took over , I was about 100yds back watching this chaotic scene ? He followed a truck into the Base through the barrier the Guards started running after him ,he turned round and came out thank God , then I saw him go off road across the flat desert towards Khobar ■■ I was right behind him , He then drove straight into a culvert ■■? This was brick built with sloping sides about 6ft deep , he was nosed down at 45 deg the women and kids got out he was staggering about , I had a Duster open back truck ,getting all the people in my truck I drove them to a safer place , going back for Peter ,I luckily pulled him out with cloths line ,lashing it over and over which I had from the dingy by this time the Arabs where all over ? I know I have done some recovery but this Was the most frightening Ron
Half moon bay was a great place to go on a Friday, until the religious police - the Muttawa, decided that all that bare flesh was illegal and all the girls kept a full robe handy in case they came around.
We never took anything stronger than coffee or coke to the beach, but as your story tells, others did!
I couldn’t find any pics of you or Merlin in Pat’s pool. The lad carrying Pat was Scottish and his wife looked like the blonde one in ABBA. Don’t know if you remember them.
Paul Conway, about 12 at the time is behind pat, facing away. He went to the British School, where Julie was a teacher. One essay he wrote started ‘My Dad is of medium fatness…’
John ,the Dark Gold Le Mans in your photo looks like TMS ? John Hill , Mirlin and myself had one ? Who knows ? We may have been on the beach ? John Hill me and the lads went to the Aramco beach , this was fab , with bamboo tables and straw covered umbrellas dotted around , we slept over the worse for SID this was a safe place to forget your misgivings ? I was awoke by some thing hissing ? It was Just day break , I looked towards the sound ? And saw the the back of an humpback Whale just yards from the shore as it disappeared in this deep channel , I rushed over and woke JH he was next to a carrot mine ? ( He said I was dreaming leave me alone ) But this is true !!! Ron, ps John ,your company looks great
Mirlin !! John !! The sunshine out, the bikes are out ,it great to be an older rider ? With my classic BSA I still get the Adrenalin rush through the seat of my pants at 80 !! it makes me feel great my bike only goes up to 75 ish But the Adrenalin rush is equal to 120 , I took off my jacket , when I got back in, and My Darling wife " Gizachuck !!! !! " kicked it and said I am not a ( Bikerist ) its a good job it was on the floor ,not on my back ? I have just put on a couple of side lights ? So I thought I will Road test them ! (Having had a bike stand up in a car ?). I thought it’s better to be seen ? In the traffic of today ,You can certainly hear it , !!! by the way, Mirlin & John and for all the bikers out there ? I have a Turn Table for any bike with a (" centre stand ") it turns in its own access , saves struggling ? made of steel tread plate with heavy duty rollers very strong , Stands 1inch of the deck, Ron
Well that was a first for me this Easter Sunday ? I was turning the compost over down the garden , the sun was out it was cold and windy, then I heard this roar of a plane ? Looking up though the trees!!! The A380 Emirates air bus was at about 1000 ft it just seemed to be hanging in the sky !! Slowly heading for Birmingham air port at 12/ 25 midday it was fantastic as I watched the silhouette of this giant 4 engine disappear out of view, got me thinking of the Saudi flights and our times out there ? Looking back of the life I have seen,is so different today ? I remember my dad buying a stone jar of ginger beer of the horse and cart in the street that was a luxury when I was a kid and the world has changed beyond belief from those days gone by, the Saudi experience of trucking in that land , stands out mainly because of the men I met and admired ,Happy Easter to all on this thread Ron
!!! and the upstairs was just an open to the elements 
? It Realy was biblical Ron
