Thanks Backsplice for your excellent. Shot of this horrible Atki park brake , it cost us some trouble at S Jones , we had one Roll into the Dock at Liverpool , and that one in the river at the Blue Bore On the M1 happy days eh , I can still feel the action of rolling that leaver into the gate it had the air presure that gave you the feeling of resistance , difficult to explane you have to drive these trucks to know what I mean ? And the feeling of is that. ( OK ) when parking up ■■? Looking over your shoulder , we also had one roll into the canal at S Jones yard but that was an ERF the driver tried to move before the air built up Then got out of the cab to have a chat ■■ While it was building up !!! forgetting the Blue park brake , when Edward Jones arrived he was , was livid and over heard the driver say ?!! I know we are going over the Water but that’s Ridicules ? he sacked him on the spot Ron
Thanks Macadam- woman for your interest and your input you are most welcome on this thread , tell us more ,we took rebar to the hospital in Khamis , like the. ( Autocar ) ? Who is that behind the wheel ? Ron
CHURCHILL ,once said to Hitler. ? You do your worst ,and we will do our BEST
Long live ENGLAND , Ron Buy British where we can look after our country ,
ronhawk:
Thanks Backsplice for your excellent. Shot of this horrible Atki park brake , it cost us some trouble at S Jones , we had one Roll into the Dock at Liverpool , and that one in the river at the Blue Bore On the M1 happy days eh , I can still feel the action of rolling that leaver into the gate it had the air presure that gave you the feeling of resistance , difficult to explane you have to drive these trucks to know what I mean ? And the feeling of is that. ( OK ) when parking up ■■? Looking over your shoulder , we also had one roll into the canal at S Jones yard but that was an ERF the driver tried to move before the air built up Then got out of the cab to have a chat ■■ While it was building up !!! forgetting the Blue park brake , when Edward Jones arrived he was , was livid and over heard the driver say ?!! I know we are going over the Water but that’s Ridicules ? he sacked him on the spot Ron
Ron
Nice one if my pictures of a Mack on its way into the mine site at Almasarme - the Mack was entering a dry deep sand wadi - see the 10tons of cement over the drive axle added for traction otherwise we would never have got up the gradients getting in and out.
There’s a super picture of the trucks coming out of the mine - have you seen it? Did you ever get to the mine itself? I know you got onto the roadway in with Nelson when he broke down with his Mack and made his own way back to Jeddah - a very resourceful man as well as an exert ent driver who also was able to reverse road trains!!
Thought you might have been at Kelsall over the weekend
Cheers
Ken b
Morning Ron,
Is this a Leyland Martian and did it end up at the Three Crowns Garage? ( pic from e-r-f) Cheer’s Pete
Bloody hell !!! Pete you certainly bring back memories that are burnt into my brain ,? That Leyland played a turning point in my life that stands out above and beyond all others !!! . The night shift had just started ? When I had a phone call from the Police in Derby ! saying that our recovery had broken down that was attending to one of our Tri axel trailers had tipped over loaded with Coal can you come out as quickly as possible and clear this obstruction that is blocking the road ? And if you can’t we will call on someone else to Tow it away and you will Foot the Bill ? Emediatly I put the wheels in motion to deal with this situation ,telling John Davies to tool up and take out that very Recovery truck In your photo to deal with this problem ( in quick time ).Well pulling up with the recovery outside the workshops in your photo it had a flat OS front tyre ! While this was being inflated ? I was aware of the men bunching together ? They told me that the recovery truck Must have two men to go out on a job !!! Well I knew that there was a team of men already in Derby shovelling coal from one trailer to another ,and told them to get back to there work ,that I had planed out for the night shift of at least 20men , Well then they called up Frost from the lubrication bay he was there UNION shop Stuart , he said the recovery will not move until it has two men on board.!!! Then with no uncertain terms I told them of the urgency of the situation ■■? ( And get back to there work ) THIS THEY REFUSED TO DO ? Well I did no more ( time was of the essence )So I tooled up , jump into the cab ? And drove off Reaching our first broken recovery and towing it back to the yard in Aldridge with at least 8 of the day shift on board , getting back to the yard ? It was in Darkness ■■? There was just one light on in my office ■■? Hang on I will just stop here and have a cup of tea and a piece of toast. TO BE CONTINUED , RON 
pete smith:
Morning Ron,
Is this a Leyland Martian and did it end up at the Three Crowns Garage? ( pic from e-r-f) Cheer’s Pete
Mr Edward Jones ( Michaels father) in the foreground - a good man
The story continues ! I’must have been about 3am in the morning when I arrived back in the darkened yard parking up ? I thought where are all the men ?as the day shift men went back to there beds ,leaving me on my own I opened the office door and there sitting in my chair was a so called fleet engineer ,we have all met this type of bloke , cowards with no back bone , ( he said to me what have you done ) ? I pushed past him looking at the job cards with the workshop full of trucks, Working on my own I made sure that they where all roadworthy then opening the doors for the drivers to take out , it’s now about 6-30am I was pleased with all the trucks going to work, it’s now 7.30 this wast of skin as been on my back for some 4 hrs just walking round talking me down ? its now raining , Then the day shift started to arrive then the night shift came back , all talking and looking at me as if I was something that you find under a stone ? They said we are on Strike Sitting on oil drums with planks to make there selfs comfortable out of the rain ? I said if your are on strike you are not sitting in the workshops , So I went to all the blokes kicking there planks over and shutting the doors throwing them out in the Rain ,it’s now 9am then Edward Jones arrived and asked me what was going on , I told him this very same true story ,calling a meeting in the canteen the place was full to the brim , He then put his arm round my shoulder standing up he bellowed I am backing this Man 100 percent and if you FF – ING BA:–TERDS don’t go back to work immediately I will close the FU - KING PLACE DOWN They all ran out leaving me to carry on as normal ? But of course they resented me ? My back was strong , then Edward asked me if I would go to TRANS ARABIA and help with the engines that where in truble the rest is history. Ron
ronhawk:
Hi Uromat , I did work for S Jones in the mid 60s , as the workshop Foreman on nights until I went to join T/A , some , 10years later , the drivers names that I remember where Graham Griffiths , Gordon Taylor , Dicky Grantham , Tony Cope ,Tutie , Jonny Arnold , Vince Cook ,Stan Brindley ,Charlie Owin and quite a few more, if you have any reference to an individual’ let me know , was he on general or tippers ? Ps JA went to Ozzie 6ft -2 or 3 big lad ,good company, Ron
just sent you a private message Ron
How about this for a reference after 3years working to the highest standard ,in 50 deg of heat this was what Trans Arabia thought of him , in that hole named JEDDAH Ron
ronhawk:
How about this for a reference after 3years working to the highest standard ,in 50 deg of heat this was what Trans Arabia thought of him , in that hole named JEDDAH Ron
Ron
50c. What are you on - that Hubble bubble pipe again. 30 to 35c. In summer slightly over 40c
If you didn’t like Trans Arabia or Jeddah why were you there? It was your choice
Thanks Steve for that photo , That recovery was the very vehicle that .? When I Pressed the start button It took me on an adventure ,Of a lifetime Thanks for the Ride. Ron
Morning Ron,
Couple more I have found on net, first picture,not very clear, is from BCVM from 1960 and the reg no. is 1965 E and second picture is from Stevecastle bodies at Oundle, Cheer’s Pete
The Leyland Beaver, I remember well ,this was S Jones’s main truck at the time wen I first started there , they gave us problems now and again ? With head gasket blowing ! I towed one back from the Victoria Docks on the east coast Hull That was before the bridge !! The gearbox main shaft had broken off on the rear flange , we did not have a Recovery Truck so I used a 6 wheel Albion as the tow vehicle , leaving the trailer at the dock we hitched up and towed it back this was on a Monday night ? This meant that we had been burning the candle at both ends , we where always knackered on a Monday night ? Coming back through Nottingham the night street lights i Saw I looking in the mirror ■■ And I think it was Joe Gleason in the Beaver he was asleep at the wheel and the tow bar was at at 45deg I hit the brakes and woke him up just before he crashed into whatever was on the other side of the rd bloody lucky , they where a good truck to drive Slow gear change ,But no tilt cab for engine repairs , Jack nuts where essential ,a good idea to free the heads , Ron
Getting back to Jeddah ? The highest temp recorded in Saudi was 51.9 .for any one to belittle the work that we did in KSA ,not even take into the account the heat of the engines we worked on , is an insult to the our lads , and now it shows what a ■■■■ the manager Still is ,the oil was scalding hot when we changed it ,coming out like water with no pit , keeping our tools in petrol ,The Mac engines that we rebuilt in that tin shed , that tin shed must have been over 60 let alone the 50 outside but that was our job and we did it ,nothing could break our spirit we lapped it up , Ron.
pete smith:
Morning Ron,
Couple more I have found on net, first picture,not very clear, is from BCVM from 1960 and the reg no. is 1965 E and second picture is from Stevecastle bodies at Oundle, Cheer’s Pete
my grandad used to drive a tvw for s.jones eight wheeler registration think 5135 E.
Hi ergomatic man ,you wrote of you grandfather driving a TVW it must have been before my time at S Jones in the 60,s but your none deplume ,reminds that me of 2 Leyland Ergomatics that S/Js had both brand new and so different with its tilt cab ,from the earlier Beaver and deep full windscreen they where a pleasure to drive ,coming into the workshops for the servicing it was noticed that the tyres on one where wearing out more quickly than its sister ? This truck was tracked up time and time again but still the tyres worn out more than the other ,I remember them well ,it turned out to be the driver ? One was steady and the other cornered like Mike Hawthorn ? Ron
ronhawk:
Hi ergomatic man ,you wrote of you grandfather driving a TVW it must have been before my time at S Jones in the 60,s but your none deplume ,reminds that me of 2 Leyland Ergomatics that S/Js had both brand new and so different with its tilt cab ,from the earlier Beaver and deep full windscreen they where a pleasure to drive ,coming into the workshops for the servicing it was noticed that the tyres on one where wearing out more quickly than its sister ? This truck was tracked up time and time again but still the tyres worn out more than the other ,I remember them well ,it turned out to be the driver ? One was steady and the other cornered like Mike Hawthorn ? Ron
hi ron think it would have been the 50,s as my dad could remember going in it as a child ,you mention the ergo leylands i have the bug for them as they were the first lorries i went in with my dad,he used to work just down the road from s.jones at pittsteel there he drove ergo super comet then the buffalo loved them ive not long sold my own buffalo and 2 lynx,s due to lack of storage there,s a couple of pictures on the leyland buffalo thread.cheers Tony.
Back in the land of sand , living in Jeddah with a bunch of great lads , I did a bit of drawing , on the Friday as the drivers sat around telling there tails I would sketch there caricature showing the results always with a caption they would shout that’s not me ? it was good for the moral , going down town Jeddah was just an eye opener always looking for talent , can you imagine that ? The men They all looked like We Willy Winkle in there night gown with white flowing dresses with fan belts, holding down there tea towels , holding hands with each other ,looking at us knowing we came from another world ,the women dressed like dark Vader with just slits to see through there head dress , with red hands sticking out it was an unreal sight, sitting in the Suek having Shi on a small round table under a strip light with flies ,the Arabs smoking there ugly bubly pipes !!! Har Har , in sticky heat was our treat on a weekend , beggars would make a bee line for us sitting in our Sunday best shirts and clean shorts , we must have looked rich ? Giving them 5rats only made it worse ? they would disappear when they saw the religious police , the roads down town had man holes in the road with no covers on at night if you saw a cardboard box in the road this meant look out , you could loose a wheel or your gear box driving the pick up , trucking out of Jeddah at night the traffic lights went to Amber ,after midnight , you crossed the main roads with extreme caution ,looking for trucks with poor lights , we where no better our trailers always had bulbs missing , but having the back end lit up was a must ,The Merc,s lit up like christmass trees driving across the desert was a sight to remember , the must have had an extra large alternator ?even under the wings they looked brilliant , Ron
Now Ron … you,ve bought the fresh bread nip across the road and get a nice bit of goat and make a sandwich for your lunch ■■?
Mah Salahm
