docfin | 27 Jun 2016 3:00 p.m. PST |
Hi looking to vist USA in September. I notice that the museum above is moving does anybody know if is worth visiting in September. |
JimDuncanUK | 27 Jun 2016 3:08 p.m. PST |
I heard somewhere that there wasn't much to see at Aberdeen Proving Grounds. |
JasonAfrika | 27 Jun 2016 3:20 p.m. PST |
Don't bother, it's all gone. Not worth the trip…very sad. It used to be a great place. |
Col Durnford | 27 Jun 2016 3:21 p.m. PST |
I have heard that the tanks were moved to a new location and it is not open to the public yet. |
Cold Steel | 27 Jun 2016 3:37 p.m. PST |
Don't waste your time on APG. The tanks and APCs were moved to Ft. Benning, GA. Some are on display, the rest in storage. The artillery and missiles were moved to Ft. Sill, OK, where about half are now on display. Too many are sitting outside rotting like this: link |
Chris Palmer | 27 Jun 2016 3:38 p.m. PST |
Yes, the tanks are gone… :( But depending when exactly you are in that area, the HAWKs will beholding their annual regional miniatures gaming con, Barrage, on Sept 30th -Oct1st just a few miles up the road from Aberdeen, in Havre de Grace. link (Note this is last year's website, but it gives you an idea of what the con is like. This year's website will be going live in a couple weeks.)
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Sundance | 27 Jun 2016 6:01 p.m. PST |
Yes, most of it was supposed to moved to a post in Virginia – FT Lee perhaps? – but I heard or read somewhere that three wasn't much interest in getting the museum up and running again. |
Dynaman8789 | 27 Jun 2016 6:31 p.m. PST |
The problem was funding, there was funding to move the equipment but no funding to setup the new displays. Any more information than that ends up getting political very quickly. |
pigbear | 28 Jun 2016 3:50 a.m. PST |
I was lucky to have gone while it was still there. Amazing to see vehicles up close, quite surprising how small many were. That said, it was mainly just a vast open field with rows and rows of tanks bleaching in the sun plus an undersized museum building without a lot in it. Maybe one day I'll make it to Bovington or another place like it. What else is out there? |
Cosmic Reset | 28 Jun 2016 4:47 a.m. PST |
There was a museum in Auburn, Indiana that had an amazing collection of mostly early WWII armor and softskins, but my understanding is that they auctioned off some portion of these a couple of years ago. Don't know what remains. |
klepley | 28 Jun 2016 5:21 a.m. PST |
Went there every year growing up and it was an amazing collection of vehicles and tons of other stuff. Seeing some of the places that were hit by shells that didn't do much damage was pretty interesting. It really should have been turned into a history museum as it was well worth the visit. Sad to see them all gone. |
docfin | 28 Jun 2016 5:42 a.m. PST |
thanks for the update. unfortunately going home on 20th |
Jcfrog | 28 Jun 2016 6:44 a.m. PST |
Argh another of those missed opportunities. i drove by twice in the 90s each time jumping as no time, as was not in the plan. Third time in the 00s it was marked as moving out! Not that maybe it would be so easy to come in after the " security flips" caused by the misguided adepts of a well known religion, famous for its openeness, friendlyness with women and tolerance… Strange there is no will to have such a proper museum in the Us. |
Cold Steel | 28 Jun 2016 9:09 a.m. PST |
The collection is scattered but not lost. The various bases that received the APG collection are working on restoring what they have as resources become available. Ft. Sill has a new first class museum with maybe 100 vehicles, guns and missiles cleaned up and on display. They also have a workshop restoring and moving guns to the museum as fast as resources permit. I took those pictures outside the workshop. I talked with one of the workers, too. They are all retired military volunteers. There is a secure motor pool nearby with dozens of more pieces lined up. I have heard of but not visited a similar smaller endeavor at Benning. At least Benning houses the bulk of the vehicles inside a couple of warehouses. IIRC, the small arms went to the Ordinance Museum at Ft. Lee, VA. |
martin goddard | 28 Jun 2016 10:16 a.m. PST |
Saw the vehicles on display at Fort Benning . About 7 vehicles. Looked nicely painted. The money at Benning has gone on their very nice infantry museum. I really miss the Aberdeen site. found an elefant down a side road with some plastic thrown over it. Tried the PAK 43, but the shield really is in your face. Some of the armour there was very experimental stuff that would interest gamers. the indoor museum was very nice too. martin |
jtkimmel | 28 Jun 2016 11:30 a.m. PST |
The first one or two HAWKS Barrage conventions were there, after 9/11 they basically closed the base to the public I believe. I took a lot of photos of the tanks and artillery during a visit a great many years ago, should really dig them out and scan them. |
jowady | 28 Jun 2016 12:42 p.m. PST |
So many of the Army museums are in really horrible shape. When the 1st Armored moved to Ft Bliss they set up their museum and while inside they have some nice stuff outside there is hardly a vehicle that doesn't have all it's glass (headlights, tail lights, periscopes, viewing ports) broken. Stuff desperately needs to be repainted and some of the stuff is just silly. They have an M4A1E8 masquerading as Creighton Abrams tank. They have a T-34/85 that is just beat to hell. They have an M3 Stuart that's missing it's mantlet and 37mm gun so someone took a piece of pipe and welded it onto what looks for all the world like a trash can lid and stuck it on. It's the same at so many other Army Museums. The Air Defense Museum, back when they were at Ft Bliss had a 120mm gun in storage that they could never get on display. The Army doesn't care, they were letting "Cobra King", one of the few M4A3E2 "Jumbo" tanks rust away as a gate guard in Germany even though it was the first tank into Bastogne. Here is the back of their fake "Creighton Abrams" Tank theminiaturespage.com
"TMP link |
Hafen von Schlockenberg | 28 Jun 2016 2:26 p.m. PST |
Pig bear et al: This place is definitely worth a trip: link I went a couple of times in the mid-90's. It's grown a lot since then. Volunteers come in to restore the tanks and vehicles. Last time I was there,they'd just gotten a Stug found in a lake. Wonder if they ever got it running? Website: nmaw.org Short promo: youtu.be/JeLn8wFAQQg There are other videos on YouTube. |
Tekawiz | 04 Jul 2016 9:52 p.m. PST |
Sad to hear that about APG. I made the visit in 1990 and it was armored heaven. It was like walking around in a parking lot full of armored vehicles. It was and incredible sight. |