Vic Turner his next car was a secondhand Range Rover , the Webastow roof had perished in the hot Sun but the talented Thi mechanics made a roof section out of an oil drum !! And it was an excellent repair Ron
John that Causeway to Barain Is 16 miles of 4 lane highway And over 25 million tons of rock used in just the foundation including that one that John hit , I never had the pleasure to drive it as you did , Ron.
We only flew home from Bahrain so that we could cross the causeway, because we knew we’d never get another chance. We could have flown directly from Dhahran.
Before the causeway you caught a 737 across. The flight itself took only a few minutes - as soon as you took off you could see the destination runway.
IIRC British Caledonian had taken the London to Dhahran route over in about 1984/5 and were still flying the route in '87. They used DC10s I think and certainly tried harder than BA, who used old aircraft on the route, often without even a film! But they had a ‘captive’ audience, if you flew Saudia, you couldn’t have a drink! The main problem with Gatwick (BCal’s airport) was that it was nothing like as convenient as Heathrow for us Northerners. I usually used the shuttle from Manchester and they had a handy helicopter flight between Heathrow and Gatwick for a while.
One year (or it may have been for longer) BA leased an old Aer Lingus 747 for the Dhahran route. Its registration letters were PZ and it had ‘Paddy Zulu - Dhahran’s own 747’ on a plaque inside the door. No films on Paddy Zulu, but everyone’s mission was to get ■■■■■■ and go to sleep.
If anyone was afraid of flying I used to say to them that it was 1,000 times safer than driving in Saudi! ‘Look at Paddy Zulu, it’s in the air 12 to 14 hours every day and it hasn’t crashed yet!’ Not actually sure if that comforted them.
We used to pay a fortune for our tickets. There was collusion between all the airlines to keep the prices sky high - after all they could fill the planes anyway, no tourists!
Even if you went via Bahrain you couldn’t get a cheap ticket. I remember flying Quantas via Bahrain once. I was extremely annoyed when I found that the lady in the seat next to me was visiting her daughter in Australia for a quarter of the price I was paying to get back to Saudi!
Caravan did a lucrative air freight deal with Saudia in the early eighties. Part of the package was reduced fares on Saudia flights for the company. By then I was working for Caravan so of course we had to use Saudia or buy our own! I wasn’t that bothered about having a drink then, so it was no hardship for me, but some of the Americans were pretty grumpy about it!
John.
Vic Turner and my self having had the short hop to Barain, where sitting in the airport waiting for the flight to Bankok At about 3am very quiet , He was wired for sound, listening to his Music on his Walkman ,we had not seen a western woman for months ? When three voluptuous girls. walked close by ? He did not realise how loud his voice was, with his ear plugs in ? he then shouted to me Ron look at the Rs on that ?!!! the looked at us as if we had not seen a woman for months , Har Har IT was embarrassing. Saudi certainly made appreciate a leg when we saw one , two was better !! Ron
Who was the chap in the hat? One of the Philipino drivers? Or did he have another role, as that might just be a clipboard he’s holding! Robert
This mans name is Manni Gobani and was the driver of 109 he was based at Damman and drove that truck for around 2 years while I worked there he was a really good driver and I remember he broke down up at Tyraif I went up in 117 one of the B series and towed him back to Damman on a straight bar coupled to the back of a 40 ft trailer all the way down the tap line that photo was taken in a layby at the top of the street by our villa
cookie1:
This mans name is Manni Gobani and was the driver of 109 he was based at Damman and drove that truck for around 2 years while I worked there he was a really good driver and I remember he broke down up at Tyraif I went up in 117 one of the B series and towed him back to Damman on a straight bar coupled to the back of a 40 ft trailer all the way down the tap line that photo was taken in a layby at the top of the street by our villa
Brilliant! Thanks ‘Cookie1’ I knew you’d know. I can feel a useful photo caption coming on! Cheers, Robert.
cookie1:
This mans name is Manni Gobani and was the driver of 109 he was based at Damman and drove that truck for around 2 years while I worked there he was a really good driver and I remember he broke down up at Tyraif I went up in 117 one of the B series and towed him back to Damman on a straight bar coupled to the back of a 40 ft trailer all the way down the tap line that photo was taken in a layby at the top of the street by our villa
Well Done Mr Cooke - I recognised him but could not remember his name " The Witch Doctor"
Martin - Was that your bump above??
Regards Ken
This bullet tank was left in our yard until the heavies came to collet , Martin posing as usual , Ron
Recruiting the Thi drivers ,in Bankok this was exhausting work ,not as hot as Saudi but sticky with it , It was as if the cotton wool clouds where made there , rising high up to the stratosphere , There food was special ,Fantastic place , Ron
Hi Ron,
Another character on Taseco - Colin Powell. A similar position to Merlin IIRC, in the traffic office. His wife Trish was out with him. He chain smoked cigars and Trish used to take the p*** out of him because he wouldn’t go out until he’d blow dried his hair.
Not sure if you were still there when he was - maybe '84 - '87.
John.
Hi John , Collin Powel , this lad dived off the compound wall into the swimming pool ? The wall was about a 1mt from the edge his foot never made the pool ? breaking his Ankle , big lad blond hair , (what a mistaker to maker ) he had only been with us a short time when this happend , iirc ,TTFN Ron
The trucks the Star of this Thread, ERF Ruled OK in Saudi from Jeddah to Dammam they where English born and bred , together with the ■■■■■■■ engine , from the flat sands to the mountain peaks , I was proud to have worked by its side ,and it never let me down , From A to B the ERF proved to be worth all the praise that I can give , to the Brits that made them , to the Brits that drove them , Sand bach ,you did well , Ron ,
Sahlahm Allykhunm … that last pic of the ERF !!! it always seemed to be the left hand side that got caved in ■■ here is a couple from my mob
Mah Salahms
Saw you on the thread Backsplice , SNAP nobody wants to run of the black stuf into soft sand ,and turn Turtle , Ron
"40 miles of bad road "… that was taken on one of my longest trips off the black stuff close to 180 Kms off the tarmac thankfully not to heavy loaded
inshalah
The most memorable food I ever ate was about 30klicks down the Abqake rd in the middle of the night ,still red hot of course , TMS had a artic tipped over with a fridge box on, having to unload to this frozen food stuff before we righted the truck and container with the minimalist of equipment using two 6x4 units and wire ropes the job got done quite a feat ? But that’s what one had to do out there in the middle of the desert!! Har Har ,well by the end of it all we were starving ,it was then that When I opened a big cardboard box ? !!! containing this mouth watering German Cherry pie , this half frozen delicate delicious pie was without any exaggeration the best thing I have ever tasted , the temp was hot the pie was cool never to be forgotten , so I must give praise to Jsutherland his country made good pies ,tasted better with a little sand , Ron
Thanks Ron [FACE WITH TEARS OF JOY]
Sent from my Hol-U19 using Tapatalk
Now then Ron …cherry cakes ion the desert !!!..you could have your hand cut off for knocking off that stuff …mind you I had an endless supply of “VIMTO” fell out of a container when opening the doors ■■? onto my container brand sandals !!!
anyway your blokes were,nt the only ones to “roll”
When recruiting the drivers ,I took this photo of this Gardner Engine !! It was driving the boat that Vic & Myself where on , on the river passing the Kings Palaces in Bankok having worked on Gardner’s for a good number of years ? I had never seen one like this , I wonder if any body out there will know ? Obviously a Marine engine ,Sorry it’s a bit out of focus Ron
