also did u see any willi betz trucks around the central asia ?
really impressive that pics - two turks trucks drive from Germany to Turkmenistan for 20 days!!
cheers Ben
thanks Ben.
To be honest I seem to spend too much time in the office now instead of out on the road travelling to customers - and seeing the trucks on the roadā¦compared to 10 odd years ago when it seemed I did nothing else.
I try to get photos when I can but, in the instance of the mountain trip ones here all along that road were signs forbidding photos - esp. when you get close to the tunnels, in fact weāve had a guy pulled over and some big shy-tea last month for being on the phoneā¦soldiers + guns also hang out in various spots on this route. In fact just after the Davies truck photo we came across a local Merc artic whic lost its containerā¦plenty of cops around and def. no chance for a photo-shootā¦this crossing is steep both ways, them old Kamaz trucks were taking it nice and steady down the other side.
In times gone by Iāve seen the Betz trucks around not many its true, sometimes the SovTransAvto trucks. The majority of trucks here passing thru now seem to be the turks & iraniansā¦we were traveling up the day before and saw a Merc truck from UK, I suspect it had be sold on and ended up here in the same way as the trailer, but it was still sign-written up for someone from Garstang.
Usually for the speedy deliveries out of Europe the turks double man from Istanbul to AGB across Iran, seems thereās a loaded truck speed limit of about 5okm/hā¦or at least that what our logical people seem to thinkā¦never mind that theyāve paid for double manned from Europeā¦such is life.
Anyway, 'll defo. keep the camera with meā¦you never know, cotton season is on during the autumn and weāre generally on the road a lot in that time
So for anyone whoās been via Tashkent may remember this sign-post about 10ks south of the Hippodrome bazar on the main road to Samarkand (and all points south west)
Must admit to being amazed at the apparent commonality of UK signwritten
trucks sold on in the east.
When I was at Toray we had a very strict policy that no truck or trailer could
leave our ownership without having all names and logos obliterated or
removed.
Wouldnāt want my name blackened around the world by a lunatic driver.
Spardo:
Must admit to being amazed at the apparent commonality of UK signwritten
trucks sold on in the east.
When I was at Toray we had a very strict policy that no truck or trailer could
leave our ownership without having all names and logos obliterated or
removed.
Wouldnāt want my name blackened around the world by a lunatic driver.
iām sure that in uk there is or was some law saying you had to remove names before selling on?
excellent photos richard - iāve got a photo of a smiths of scotter MAN pulling a hargrave fridge near krasnoyarsk, was amazed to see it when the āphenomenonā was still a new thing about 2001
Seems the Turks were going to off-load the oil (45 gall drums) Friday evening then they were off to pick up cotton bales and back to Istanbul - a 4 day trip by all accounts.
The Volvos were missing their left side fuel tanks, thru my broken bit of Turkish I understood that the Turkish customs would only allow them to have 1 tank and had them removed.
Hereās a few pics from around the placeā¦still have to be a bit careful about photos, they are still coming to terms with people & cameras around the more sensitive parts of town
Approaching AGB from the east (Mary/Chardjew) directionā¦thereās another arch on the other side of town as you head out east. This is sunset during the autumn.
Looking down in to AGB from the mountains in the South - this was actually taken about 18 months ago, the scenery has changed due to the rapid expansion of the city
Inside this building is a museum of Turkmen history and culture, up at the top end of town.
A view down on to āKarakum-stroyā shopping centre from āāThree Legsāā Neutrality tower
The mountains up around the back are a perfect place to get away from the heat of the city during summer, this is one of the roads
This is locally known as āāForty Legsāā monument, its 10 Akhal-Teke horses which marked 10 years of independence back 2001
The road from Kizle-arbat (from Nebit-Dag direction) to AGB, this was in mid-Dec. during a brief fall of snow, we travelled another 70kms from this towards AGB and the sun was shining.
Last autumn was an oil-gas exhibition here, these were some of the exhibitors, there are a few of these HOWOs about but mainly the Govt. buys KAMAZ from Russia these days
You got me there, all I can say is that to me it ressembles an FL cab, whether its under licence or just something they have blatently copied I canāt say.
As for the Iranians, as a rule you usually see Volvos, some Mercs and a few of the yankie trucks travelling up from there - there seems to be less of the US product now thoughā¦its all about someone making a buck out of it. Thereās a Volvo assembly plant thats been there for years which produces trucks with local content. They have the capabilites to produce pretty much what they want, sanctions only breed self-sufficiency.
Richard, congratulations on these pictures. I came across them while having a bit of a browse around.They have got to be amongst the best collection posted anywhere on TNUK ,for making you feel that you want to be there.I have been retired for over 9 years.I have always missed the Euro work that I did.I got as far as Albania, Greece ,Turkey,Bosnia, Kosovo, and all points between there and Portugal in the West.I miss it even bloody more now that I have seen these pictures , and realising that I.m not now going to see those places from behind the wheel of a waggon.It is not often that I envy anyone, but I envy you and where you are working.Great stuff, Keep it coming.
