ronhawk:
Trans Arabia ? I can only surmise this Storie that has been talked off by all our lads , The Cresta Run in 50 deg !!! was found to be to hot to handle ? The ill fated Mac 114 loaded with a transformer on a low bed , Must have been 78 tons in total , pulled away from outside the Villa ,to crawl for 3hrs up to the Top of the notorious Teif mountain, then rest awhile ,this was the start of the CRESTA run , the driver was none other than the now famous Gypsy Dave ,the next 2 days will be frightening , he had with him an American man Who is now probably in a Mental hospital in Texas ? Still screaming?!! The start of this road to Khamis is not to bad, but the further you travel with the Sun in windscreen the steeper it gets , it’s a road that I found had spectacular Scenery, the road cut though mountains of rock , with carnage of trucks that had fell fowl to the X CAMEL drivers that had obviously died. In There Metal sledges with wheels running out of brakes and crashing Into each other , APPARENTLY WITH ALL WHEELS SMOKING THIS TRUCK WAS NOW ON THE CRESTA RUN 114 , YOU REALY HAVE TO DRIVE THIS ROAD, ITS FANTASTIC , Scull and cross bones signs reminding you that you are about to meet "Allah " and may be meet the Queen of Sheba ? Is it worth it !!! ? Get down Mirlin !! With Gypsy Dave standing on the Middle pedal , this is wide enough for 2 feet ,thank god !!! and with white knuckles on the wheel ?!! Organ stops for Eyes !! SHOUTING TO THE YANK ,■■? Jump Jump JUUUMMMMP ,Well we know what the Yanks are like !!! Looking at himself in the NS mirror ,AND THEN BACK TO GYPSY Save me save me !!! With the engine sounding like a machine gun with the valves hitting the piston in there firing order , Skilfully Gypsy Dave steered the fire breathing monster into the side of the rock face and somehow with all his training he had at S JONES driving Tippers ? He pulled the rig Up WELL DONE DAVE !!! RON
Well Ron
You must be on the Hubble bubble pipe again with this story!!
I know the hubbly bubbly pipe is great ? You want to try it sometimes , it makes you remember things !!! just for you will show the pictures I took of the aftermath of the Mac,s that where directly responsible , through over loading it was beyond my belief ,when I was rebuilding the engines ,which I loved to do in 50deg of sun . I though how could you try to blame our lads for your incompetence ! and then say the Philos where better drivers ? Because the only carried 1/4 the weight we did ,■■? All this I can forgive !!! But when you ROB John Davies of ONE THOUSAND POUND ,AND LET HIM PAY TWICE FOR HIS CONCORD FLIGHT. this lad worked late into the night for years repairing truck in trouble and stopping a year over for his Bonus , and coming back home empty handed to his invalid Mother is an absolutely a disgrace , and when he told me his Reference you wrote for his future employment ,■■? I can’t BELIVE it Would you like me to print this as well? Put that in your pipe and smoke it Ron
ronhawk:
I know the hubbly bubbly pipe is great ? You want to try it sometimes , it makes you remember things !!! just for you will show the pictures I took of the aftermath of the Mac,s that where directly responsible , through over loading it was beyond my belief ,when I was rebuilding the engines ,which I loved to do in 50deg of sun . I though how could you try to blame our lads for your incompetence ! and then say the Philos where better drivers ? Because the only carried 1/4 the weight we did ,■■? All this I can forgive !!! But when you ROB John Davies of ONE THOUSAND POUND ,AND LET HIM PAY TWICE FOR HIS CONCORD FLIGHT. this lad worked late into the night for years repairing truck in trouble and stopping a year over for his Bonus , and coming back home empty handed to his invalid Mother is an absolutely a disgrace , and when he told me his Reference you wrote for his future employment ,■■? I can’t BELIVE it Would you like me to print this as well? Put that in your pipe and smoke it Ron
Ron
Love it
Facts
John Davies and you were still working at Trans Arabia when I left - I had nothing to with bonus’s or any air tickets for JD - fact
The Mack in the picture and its fire had nothing to do with weight - it was the closeness off the piece of timber timber that the sleeper modal was sitting on and the bend in the vertical exhaust - all the other 5 were scotched and had to be adjusted - don’t forget I went with JD on the call out to Binzagrs office reports of a small electrical fire on one of our trucks and the driver was being held in a local prison - fact
Ron quite frankly you are inventing stories that are not tru and you could be held for liable in court the way you are going.
As far as Brits and Philos are concerned as an employer and managing them - there were more issues with Brits than Philos - 8 Brits were sacked and no Philos and in fact if I had known someone was stealing cigars out of Binzagrs containers there would have been one more going home!!
Keep puffing
You break em ? We will fix em , rebuilding the Two Mac Engines , I can’ tell you , how hot it was in this tin shed ? It REALY was unbearable , JD & I could only work for short periods of time in this oven .the engines was rebuilt to a high standard ? You can see I am just about to set the Tappets Har Har The ■■■■■■■ where a better engine , fitting the Jake brake to the ERF was a great ,This is just what we needed
The twist lock housing was just over the back end, this actually made them a little bit more stable having more area of the box on the deck ? If you catch my drift ,but there where lots of boxes that came off on the corners ,the chains held when stationary , the scenery on the back looked like a dream , Ron
Talking about Tonka,s carrying boxes ■■? I remember on lots of occasions in the dock area of Jeddah seeing a 6 wheeler Tonka Merc shifting containers with 2x 20 ft boxes onboard …across ways yes across ways they just fitted neat but with 6 ft overhang each side see if you can top that …I can,t … pity I did,nt get a pic of these happenings which by the way was only one of the weird and wonderful happenings seen out there …mind you there was always plenty room to maneuver on the docks
backsplice:
Talking about Tonka,s carrying boxes ■■? I remember on lots of occasions in the dock area of Jeddah seeing a 6 wheeler Tonka Merc shifting containers with 2x 20 ft boxes onboard …across ways yes across ways they just fitted neat but with 6 ft overhang each side see if you can top that …I can,t … pity I did,nt get a pic of these happenings which by the way was only one of the weird and wonderful happenings seen out there …mind you there was always plenty room to maneuver on the docks
Well 2 @ 20’ on a Tonka
I clearly remember one night working with the lads shunting boxes into the port from the yard - I had a 40 ft on a 40’ trailer with twist lick except that this num scull didn’t lock them - on the bum by roads into the port I ended up with it almost full length across the trailer - sh-t myself - one of the others backed against it and pushed it pretty straight - lesson learnt!!
This might have been the same night as the incident with the camel!! Dirty spitting things
John Mathews and Erick Bowers 113 & 116 ,great lads , I remember JM writing to me when I was was working for GCC in Dammam asking if I could get him a job ? After the Brits had been replaced , I only wish I could have , he was a good mate ,and both great Trans Arabia drivers , road trains an heavy loads you name it they did it ! we all got the Job done Ron
Nice one Backsplice , two 20fts side ways that’s sounds right to me ,there was room at the docks , we used to pick up the empties from that container park in the sand ■■ double quick time all the trucks where used , this was through the night loading up the Ship , there where containers on the deck ,? On that first left turn to the open dock !! With the Mercs trying to corner like we did , Har Har , the sand was like ball bearing on there 6 wheeler flat beds !!! they could not see our twist locks ? The Mac,s looked fab with there orange park lights on Ron
Well Ron …it looks like you,ve recovered from the F89 fix once you get a taste your hooked !!!
nice Photo of Jeddah docks the 2 ships in view are both OCL (Overseas Container Lines ) and would be named after Bays down under here …for example “Jarvis Bay” would have been taken early to mid 80,s …a bit more modern than our day
Well done Backsplice , I am never to Old to learn Ships named from Bays down under !!! We went to quite a few ? And loved your country , we drove from Cookstown South ,calling at Mossman gorge all the beautiful beaches down as far as Brisbane fantastic Cape Tribulation Cairns ,Hervey Bay Rock Hampton Hamilton Island, blimey round the corner to Sydney , my wife climbed the coat hanger, then further to the Great ocean Rd then to Ballarat where my Daughter s in laws mom and dad ,worked on a Sheep Station !!! it’s hard to BELIEVE but a young lad Paul Hooper who lived directly opposite our house called in at Jeddah on a ship called the Snow Ball , John Davies took him to Trans Arabia and round the town ? I was on leave at the time ,an’t life marvellous , that same lad now man ? Called round this VERY morning bringing a bottle of Hardy-s red from down under , for looking after his aged mother Mary , Thanks for the memories ! Have a good weekend , Ron
Nice Volvo Ron …don,t think it would cope with soft sand though to low■■? bit of a show pony anyway here,s a couple of snaps to remind you of your holiday down under taken in Nth Queensland Inc Mossman Gorge !!! enjoy the Hardy,s Shiraz with a nice piece of steak not to well done !!!
The water tower Jeddah impressive !! On your right going out , on your left coming home , looking at the photo and thinking of water ? In my youth working at the Walsall Bus Dep in the winters it was bloody freezing the cold took its tole on all Gardner fleet ? Shearing off the Brass drive impellers on the water pump that where on the outside of the block on these engines, the blocks too froze solid and in some cases splitting the cast iron blocks ■■ They where repaired by drilling along the split ! Tapping a thread and inserting a Brass rod in the first hole and then overlapping each op in turn until the split was compleatly repaired !! this was a skilled job and somtimes the 1/4 inch tap could brake off ■■? This created a problem ,drilling oversize and carying on , the scars looked great when finished Ron
Taffy Bill he was a great bloke ,proud that Wales won the grand slam in 1978 he had the T shirt on when coming back from leave , he drove me soft, "no comment you no who ? !!! "always on and on about it the Saudies had never seen a Dragon before ? He was brilliant and we got on well together , hard working lad , he loved the Sun as most of our lads did me included , my gear was always in bad shape covered in oil and grease I borrowed shirts and shorts when the lads went on leave un knowing to them
!! And when they came back ? It was like the Three Bears !!! If you know what I mean , Taffy Blowed my cover ? Bringing me back a T shirt with SECOND HAND ROSE on it he was great Sadly missed , RIP Taffy Ron
Hello Ron …I,m having hard job keeping up with you …I suppose a lot of the lads are gone now (RIP) and names might be sketchy but faces are still here !!! I must confess I think about these times a lot lately especially with all he carry ons going on in the M/E whatever I had a great time a bloody great time !!!
anyway you were,nt the only one with a BIG fork ■■? mine is bigger than yours …LOL
There you are Backsplice !! thanks for you Input it’s good know ? that when I am asleep you are standing upside down , sometimes thinking of the good times that we both experienced although with different company’s !! in that land with strips of tarmac with self steer ruts across the desert of Arabia , it was a bit special to say the least, to survive in 50 deg driving alongside the ex camel drivers has certainly left its memories , and of the lads I worked alongside The where all bloody fantastic , going out alone on a shoe string from Jeddah to Dammam, to have company was Comforting Ken Higgley with one of the first road trains, just him and his trailers cost to coast ,the worry was the tonkers over takeing , he was an unassuming sort of a bloke , but he left his mark in my book ,as did many others , Your fork truck looks strong ? I heard of a worker on the unloading Raft in the port picking up two 1/2heights of Marble and it rolled him off the side, he and the fork truck where lost That marble was dead heavy , Before I went out they unloaded a RORO ship in the dock one side at a time ,■■? the Ship rolled over and was out in port when I went out with a rust line down the middle , apparently T/A had some rolling stock on board ,all written off , Ron
Gerry Cook on the stacker, & Jonny Mathews , you can imagine what Gogies road train train looked like , a double load of the same ,weight? Incredible Dammam to Jeddah , Gogy of Arabia 6x4 ERF he needed all 18 brake chambers he was great lad , Ron
I f you won’t to experience Trucks going down mountain roads ■■? Just go on google and click onto "Show trucks going down the mountain roads ". In the USA You will then get some idea of the mountain roads in Saudi Arabia , 100 times worse than there roads most of the Videos only last 6–7 minutes TA’IF Mountain coming down loaded takes 1-1/2 hrs if you go to Abha it just goes on for Days that’s why I am proud of all the lads who have truly done it ,with loads that where frightening and red hot , brakes already had a head start and never cool , Ron
